Darkness in the Light
by yugiyamifangirl
Summary: Yugi gains Yami's Shadow magic somehow and goes out of control, attacking and trying to kill Yami. What is going on and can Yugi be saved? Pairings: Puzzleshipping, Blindshipping plus more, full summary and warnings inside
1. Beginning

Yes, I decided to start a new story. This one has bugged me for a while, so I decided to start writing it.

Pairings:

YugixYami(Puzzleshipping)

AtemuxHeba(Blindshipping)

SetoxJoey(Puppyshipping)

BakuraxRyou(Tendershipping)

MarikxMalik(Bronzeshipping)

TristanxTea(Supportshipping)

SerenityxMokuba(Siblingshipping)

IshizuxOdion(Xenoshipping)(possibly, not sure yet)

There is also past YamixTea(Revolutionshipping). It is not shown because they've already broken up, but it's important to the story. You'll see why later. Also, the Puzzleshipping and Blindshipping won't start until later in the story.

Note 1- Yugi will be very OOC in this story. You'll see why very soon, and you'll understand why later on.

Note 2- At first it will seem like I am bashing Yami, Joey, Seto, Tristan, Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba, but I'm not. That will become clearer later on.

Note 3- Atemu, Bakura, and Marik are going to seem extemely protective of Yugi. There is no relationship other than brotherly love between them with Yugi.

Note 4- Heba won't show up until later in the story.

Note 5- The Hikaris all have a type of magic I am calling Light magic in this fic. Since the Yamis have Shadow magic, I gave the Hikaris a magic oppoiste to the Shadow magic.

Note 6- This story will be done in two arcs though it's just one story. One part will be the struggle with Yugi being out of control, and the other part will be teh aftermath and dealing with it all.

Note 7- This will also be an angst-filled story. If this story goes the way I plan, it will probably have more angst in it then "Help Me Learn to Live Again" did. Just to warn you.

Summary: Something tragic has happened to Yugi. Only Atemu, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik are aware of what happened. When Yami's Shadow magic suddenly disappears, no one knows what happened. When an out-of-control Yugi suddenly attacks Yami, it becomes apparent that Yugi has the Shadow magic, and that he plans to kill Yami. No one understands why Yugi is so out-of-control, and Joey and the others blame Yugi. When Atemu, Marik, and Bakura finally reveal what happened to Yugi to cause this to happen, Yami realizes that he is resposible as he is the one that allowed his Light to fall into darkness. Now, Atemu, Marik, and Bakura must stop Yugi before he kills them all as well as bring about the end of the world. Can they save Yugi, or will they be forced to kill Yugi? Can Yugi's twin brother Heba help them with what is going on? Will Yami ever tell his light how in love with him he is, or did Yami ruin his chances with Yugi because of his own stupidity?

Warnings: yaoi, mentions of rape(no graphic scenes), violence, possible lemons

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. All the characters from Yu-Gi-OH! belong to their creator, Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 1- Beginning

"AHH!"

Yami slammed into the wall with his back hitting the wall hard. He winced in pain as he fell to the ground.

Yugi stalked toward Yami. He was wearing a pair of extremely tight black leather pants, a tank top shirt, and a black leather jacket over the shirt, a pair of boots, bracelets, and a neck belt.

Yami was struggling to get up. He was dresses in the blue school uniform of his.

"Get up!" Yugi spat.

Yami looked up and was unable to see a shred of his Hikari in those eyes. All he saw was anger and hatred. "Yugi, please. Stop this." Yami said.

Yugi reached down and grabbed Yami by his throat. With strength no one would have thought the small boy would have, Yugi brought Yami to his feet and slammed Yami back into the wall with great strength, causing Yami to cry out in pain once more. "Why the hell should I stop, you heartless bastard? It's not like it should matter. You did everything to hurt me!" Yugi spat.

"Yugi, I didn't-" Yami started, but never got to finish.

Yugi threw Yami across the room.

Yami's back slammed into the floor, and Yami skidded across the floor a little ways before he came to a stop.

Yami squeezed his eyes shut in pain.

Yugi started toward him. "What's the matter, Yami? Did you not think that you sweet and innocent Hikari could do something like this? Did you think that I would never be so violent? Did you think that I'm some weak and helpless brat who needs you?" Yugi asked, each sarcastic word tearing at Yami's heart.

"Yugi, I-" Yami started.

"Shut up! I don't need you anymore! I don't need your help! I don't need your fake sympathy! I don't need your fake concern! I've finally realized the truth about you, Yami! You never cared about me! I never meant a damn thing to you! All I was to you was a way to live again! You just needed me until you got your own body and then you didn't need me anymore!" Yugi spat.

Yami struggled, but finally managed to get on to his feet. "Yugi, please. None of that is true. My concern for you was never fake. I always cared about you. I still do." Yami said.

"Bullshit! You never once cared! It was all about you! You, who was once the great and powerful pharaoh of Egypt, never cared about anyone, but yourself!" Yugi spat angrily.

Yami could feel his heart breaking more and more the more Yugi talked. He couldn't believe how bad things had gotten. He couldn't believe that these words were coming from the Hikari he loved so much. He couldn't believe that Yugi had been turned from the sweet, innocent Hikari that eh remembered into this vengeful, hate-filled person. He didn't even recognize his own Hikari, and he was starring him right in the face.

"Yugi, I'm sorry." Yami said.

"ENOUGH!" Yugi shouted. He looked at Yami with nothing but hatred and contempt. "I was a fool to ever trust you! I should have known that you never once cared about me!" Yugi said.

"Yugi, that isn't true!" Yami shouted, some of his fire return ring.

"Yes, it is.' Yugi hissed. A ball of dark energy formed in his hand before Yugi threw it at Yami.

Yami tried to move out of the way, but was hit in the back. He screamed as he was thrown down.

"It's over. You're not living through this." Yugi said.

The amount of anger and hatred that filled that voice was nothing like the Yugi that Yami had always known and loved.

Yami squeezed his eyes shut as more pain crashed into him, only this pain was not physical pain. This was emotional pain.

Yami's heart was breaking from everything that had happened.

Yugi was no longer the sweet boy that Yami had met. Yugi was a vengeful person with only one goal in mind.

To kill Yami.

'Why did this happen? Why did I let this happen? How could I have been so foolish? This is my fault, and Yugi has every reason to hate me. I am to blame for everything.' Yami thought as tears filled his crimson eyes.

* * *

~One Month Earlier~

Yami was out in an ice cream shop with Tea, Tristan, Joey, Seto, Mokuba, and Serenity.

The seven friends had gone out to the ice cream shop after school had let out for the day.

"Man! That was an awesome prank that you pulled on Mr. Clayton, Joey." Tristan said.

Joey grinned. "Don't I know it. That'll teach the guy to call me worthless again." Joey said.

"I still wish you would have let me deal with him, Puppy. I would have made him regret ever messing with you." Seto growled. He didn't like it when anyone other than himself got into arguments with his puppy.

"Don't worry about it, Dragon. I took care of it." Joey said.

Joey and Seto had been a couple for almost a year. They may have argued all the time, but it was clear that they loved each other, and no one dared to mess with Joey unless they wanted the powerful CEO of KaibaCorp to come after them with all his money and lawyers backing him.

"Well, I thought it was childish." Tea said.

"Come on, Tea. It was just a harmless prank." Yami said.

"Still. There are better ways to deal with things like this." Tea said.

"Come on, babe. There's nothing wring with it. It's not like Joey hurt the guy." Tristan said.

"He put superglue in the man's seat." Tea said.

Joey, Tristan, Yami, Seto, and Mokuba all started laughing at the thought.

"It was childish, but it was funny, too." Serenity said with a smile.

"I have to admit that it was funny to hear him threaten us all with detention if we didn't tell him who had done that to him when he couldn't even get out of the seat." Tea admitted.

"See. Even you thought it was funny." Tristan said.

"Okay. I admit it. It was funny." Tea said.

Tea and Tristan had been together for about six month.

About nine months before, Yami and Tea had started dating when Yami asked Tea out. However, the relationship didn't last past a week, and they only went on one date as they quickly learned that they were not meant for each other.

Yami's heart belonged to Yugi, even if his young Hikari didn't know it, and Yami wasn't going to try and replaced Yugi with someone else.

Tea had been upset since she had had feelings for Yami since before eh got his own body, but Tea had gotten over Yami and realized that Tristan liked hr a lot, so she took a chance, and the two were very happy with each other now.

"So, what are we doing after this?" Mokuba asked.

"Whatever we want to, I guess." Joey said.

"We have plenty of time to figure that out." Seto said.

"Yeah. Let's just get some ice cream and enjoy it." Joey said.

Yami shook his head. "Do you think of anything other than eating?" Yami asked.

"Well, I do think of one other thing." Joey said, glancing over at Seto, who simply smirked at the remark made by his boyfriend..

"Too much info!" Tea said.

The others laughed.

"Believe me. We get way too much info. I mean, Serenity and I can hear them going at it at all hours of the night." Mokuba said.

Mokuba and Serenity were also a couple, although they had only been together about two months.

Joey and Serenity also lived with Seto and Mokuba.

"Well, I was the one who suggested this place, so I agree with Joey for once. Let's eat." Tea said.

Everyone then went to order some ice cream.

* * *

"I can't believe that ignorant, selfish, heartless, lowlife bastard! How dare he even try to call himself a Yami! He has no night trying to claim that title!" Bakura growled as he stalked back and forth across the living room floor of the Gamer Shop.

"I know. I mean, the guy sees himself as the greatest Yami that ever lived, but he hasn't done anything worth getting excited over! He doesn't know a damn thing about his own Hikari!" Marik snarled.

Atemu at there quietly.

It may have been his own brother that Bakura and Marik were thrashing, but Atemu made no move to defend his brother.

Bakura turned to look at Atemu. "Explain to me how it is that you two are related!" Bakura said

"I have no idea. This is not the brother that I know. Yami has become so ignorant and clueless. He doesn't realize anything about Yugi." Atemu said as he stood up and walked to the window, looking outside.

"What are we going to do? Someone has to teach him a lesson." Marik said.

"Yeah. I'm not trying to say that I'm the perfect Yami. Hell, I mistreated and beat Ryou for a long time. I don't deserve to have Ryou like me much less love me. I made a tone of mistakes, but Yami takes the cake!" Bakura snapped.

"I know what you mean. I took over Malik's body and used him for my own selfish means. I abused his trust, and I might as well be considered as bad as you, Bakura, but at least I didn't do what he's done." Marik added.

Atemu turned to him. "Yami's an idiot. He's a lowlife. He's a bastard. I don't deny any of that. I know he is my brother, but I am disgusted with the way he has acted." Atemu said. He sighed as he leaned back against the window. "But we cannot forget that Yami is also Yugi's dark side. We can't forget that. Despite how much I wish this wasn't the case, light cannot live without darkness. We have to get Yami to see what is happening." Atemu said.

"How if he wouldn't listen to us on _**that **_night?" Bakura asked.

Atemu sighed. "Truthfully, I'm one step away from grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against the wall, and screaming the truth in his face." Atemu said.

"Now you're talking!" Bakura said.

"I'm trying once more tonight to talk to him, but if he doesn't listen, I am taking more drastic measures to force him to listen." Atemu said.

"Good. If you need any help, let us know." Bakura said.

"I plan on it." Atemu. Though he wasn't showing it, Atemu was just as angry at his brother as Bakura and Marik were, if not more so. 'He will listen. If he doesn't, the consequences are going to be dire, and Yugi is the one who is already paying the price for his action.' Atemu thought, thinking of the young boy who he loved as a brother.

* * *

Yugi was curled up on a bed crying. He had his face buried in his arms as his small body was wracked with violent sobs.

'Why? Why did this happen? What did I do to deserve this? Why did he do this to me?' Yugi asked himself as the sobs continued.

Yugi never noticed the dark purple energy that seemed to swirl around his room. He noticed how his body started to glow this exact same color.

All Yugi could feel was the pain in his heart and the pain of the memories that would not go away no matter what Yugi did.

**Kill him!**

Yugi looked up and around, his face stained with tears. "What?" Yugi asked.

**Go after him!**

Yugi was scared now. "Who's there?" Yugi asked.

**We will help you get revenge on the one who has caused you all this heartache. We will help you make him feel the agony that he ahs put you through. We can help you make him pay!**

"I-I don't know who-" Yugi started. He looked down at his hands. He saw that there was a purple tint to his hands. "What?" Yugi asked.

**We know your pain. We have sensed it. Our master did nothing, but enjoy his own life, never once considering you. He never cared what was happening to you. He never listened to you. He never pain attention to you. He broke his promises to you.**

Yugi didn't know who it was that was talking to him. "Who are you talking about?" Yugi asked.

**Yami, the former pharaoh of Egypt. He is the cause of what has happened to you.**

"Who are you?" Yugi asked timidly.

**We can help you make him pay. We can help you get your revenge. We are the shadows, the source of the Shadow magic that all Yamis possess. Our master has failed in his duty to you, and now we will help you. We will not allow this continue. Let us help you. **

Yugi was in so much pain that he didn't know what to do. He wanted something. He was so angry that he needed to get it out. He needed to make others see what had happened. He wanted-he-wanted-he wanted-revenge.

* * *

Malik and Ryou were downstairs.

Both were startled when they felt a strong source of shadow magic upstairs.

"Bakura, Marik, and Atemu aren't here." Ryou said.

"Then who is that?" Malik asked.

The two jumped up and dashed up the stairs. They burst into Yugi's room and were shocked to see dark, purple magic surrounding Yugi.

The Shadow magic.

"M-m-m-Malik? What's happening?" Ryou asked.

"I don't know." Malik said.

The power of the Shadow magic changed Yugi's clothes. He had been wearing his school uniform. Now, he wore very tight, black leather pants. He also had on a tank top along with a black leather jacket. He now wore black boots along with bracelets and a pure black neck belt.

He looked nothing like the Yugi the two Hikaris knew.

"Yugi?" Ryou said.

Yugi turned. His amethyst eyes had turned extremely dark now. So dark that they were almost black.

However, there was something else in his eyes that scared them both.

Yugi's eyes were full of anger and hatred. They were full of malice.

"Yugi?" Malik asked.

"No more." Yugi growled in a voice that was twice as strong as his voice normally was. It was a voice full of venom. "He will pay." Yugi said.

"Yugi, who?" Ryou asked, though he feared the answer.

"Yami." Yugi growled.

"No, Yugi. You can't!" Malik said.

"You can't stop me!" Yugi shouted.

Suddenly, the power of the Shadow magic was unleashed in a powerful blast, ripping the house apart.

* * *

Marik, Bakura, and Atemu looked up with gasps of shock and horror.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Bakura exclaimed.

"That was Shadow magic. Out of control Shadow magic." Atemu said.

"No way. Yami's the only other person with Shadow magic, and he has complete control of it." Marik said.

"Come on! We have to make sure!" Atemu said.

All three darted out of the house and ran at breakneck speed, searching for the source of the Shadow magic.

* * *

Yugi stood on top of a tower that over looked the city. He looked around as if he was searching for something,

"You can't hide from me, Yami. I will find you, and I will make you pay for everything hat you did to me." Yugi said.

His voice was nothing like the sweet, innocent Hikari. It was a voice that promised pain.

Yugi looked down at his hand at the purple magic that swirled around his hand.

"You have no way to defend yourself, Yami. You cannot stop me. I will have my revenge for all the pain you caused me. You will pay, and so will your damned friends!" Yugi hissed.

Yugi clenched his hand into a fist.

"You will pay!" Yugi growled.

* * *

Bakura, Marik, and Atemu arrived at the house.

"Oh-no! This is our house!" Marik exclaimed.

"Ryou!" Bakura shouted, running in.

"Malik!" Marik hollered, following Bakura.

"Yugi!" Atemu yelled, following the other two.

The house was in a secluded area, so no one else even knew that anything had happened.

All three Yamis went in to find that the inside of the house had been destroyed.

"Where are they?" Marik asked.

There was a low groan.

The three ran over.

"Ryou!" Bakura shouted. He moved some of the rubble off of his Hikari and knelt down beside Ryou, pulling him into his arms.

Ryou had a few bruises on him.

"Ry, what happened?" Bakura asked.

"Yugi." Ryou said and coughed.

"Malik!" Marik exclaimed, finding his own Hikari. He knelt down and pulled Malik to him. "Malik, what happened?" Marik asked.

Like Ryou, Malik had a few bruises. "Yugi, something's wrong." Malik said.

"What? What's wrong with him?" Atemu asked, worried to death about the young boy he cared so much for.

"Shadow magic. Yugi has Shadow magic." Ryou said.

"Ry, that's impossible." Bakura said.

"No, it's not." Ryou said, sitting up. "Yugi has it. Something is really wrong." Ryou said.

"Like what?" Atemu asked.

"We're not sure. He does have Shadow magic, though." Malik said as Marik helped him on his feet.

"That is so mot good." Atemu said. He looked over at the two injured Hikaris. "Do you have any idea where Yugi is going?" Atemu asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Ryou said.

"Why unfortunately?" Bakura asked.

"Because I think this Shadow magic has given Yugi a thirst for revenge.

"Revenge? Against who?" Atemu asked.

"Your brother." Ryou said.

"He's going after Yami." Marik said.

"Not like he doesn't deserve it." Bakura muttered.

"There's no time for that Bakura! We have to stop Yugi before he does something that he ends up regretting." Atemu said.

"How do we find them?" Malik asked.

"I don't know, but we have to start looking. You two go back to the Game Shop and wait for us." Atemu said.

"No. Yugi is out friend, and we're helping." Malik said defiantly.

"We don't have time to argue, Atemu. We are just going to have to let them." Bakura said.

"Right. Let's go." Atemu said.

The five left the house and started their search.

* * *

Yugi was still on the tower.

"You won't get away, Yami. I won't let you." Yugi said in a dangerous voice.

His eyes narrowed into slits and his jaw clenched.

"You will pay for all you did to me." Yugi said.

A smirk then crossed Yugi's lips. It was an evil smirk that could only mean trouble.

"So, you're with your little friends. Good. It means I don't have to go out and search. All my prey are together." Yugi said.

* * *

Yami and the others were walking around in the park.

"There must be something better to do than just walk around here." Seto said.

"Come on, Big Brother. You need to enjoy nature." Mokuba said.

Seto glared at him. "I can do that at home." Seto said.

"Come on, Dragon. It doesn't hurt." Joey said.

Seto still didn't look convinced.

"Well, we could always go and buy a football." Yami sad.

"After last time, no." Seto said.

"What's wrong? Scared?" Tristan asked.

"No. I just don't want to make you look like a fool again, Taylor." Seto retorted.

Serenity and Tea sighed.

"Well, I guess we're out of this one, Serenity." Tea said.

"Why's that?" Joey asked.

"We're in our school uniforms, which translates into skirts for us." Tea said.

"Tat wouldn't be so bad." Tristan said.

Tea whacked Tristan in the back of the head.

"Ow! That hurt!" Tristan exclaimed.

"Unless you want to go without any for a month, I suggest that you shut up." Tea snapped.

The others snickered at the look of horror on Tristan's face.

A strong wind suddenly blew.

Yami then looked away. 'What is that?' Yami asked himself. He could tell that something wasn't right. He just didn't know what.

"Yams. You okay?" Joey asked.

"I'm not sure. Something doesn't feel right." Yami said.

Tea suddenly looked behind them and noticed something. "Yugi, what happened to you?" Tea asked.

Everyone looked back and saw Yugi standing there. They were all shocked at the way Yugi was dressed.

"Man, Yug. When did you start dressing like Yams?" Joey asked.

Yugi didn't answer.

Yami noticed Yugi's eyes and immediately felt a chill go down his spine. 'What is wrong with his eyes?' Yami asked himself.

"Yugi, you okay? Why aren't you answering Joey?" Tristan asked.

"What? I have to answer an idiot every time he asks a question." Yugi said cruelly.

This startled them all.

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" Seto snapped.

"Yeah. What's the matter with you?" Tea added.

"Nothing's wrong with me." Yugi retorted.

"Something's up. This isn't like you." Joey said, frowning.

"What? Don't like the new me?" Yugi asked.

"No." Joey said.

"Well, deal with it." Yugi said hatefully.

"That's it." Joey said, starting forward.

Yami reached out and grabbed Joey's arm, forcefully pulling him back.

"Yams! What's wrong with you?" Joey asked.

"Joey, don't." Yami said.

The look in Yami's eyes showed his worry.

"What?" Serenity asked.

"His eyes. Something is wrong." Yami sad.

They all looked and noticed Yugi's eyes for the first time.

"Finally noticed me, didn't you, _Pharaoh._" Yugi said. He said the word pharaoh with contempt.

Yami felt his heart tear at those words.

"What's wrong with you?" Tristan snapped.

"I've finally grown a pair, Taylor. Too bad you haven't." Yugi said.

"Why you-" Tristan started.

Seto realized this for what it was. 'He's trying to goad us. Yami's right. Something is wrong with Yugi.' Seto thought.

"What is Yugi's deal?" Tea asked.

"Get back!" Seto suddenly ordered.

Everyone looked at him.

"Why, Big Brother?" Mokuba asked.

"Don't ask questions! Just do it!" Seto ordered.

"Too late." Yugi said. He raised a hand and before he released a wave of Shadow magic that his all of them and threw them backwards.

All seven crashed into the ground hard.

Yugi smirked. "Now the fun begins." Yugi said.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I know the first part probably confused you, but I promise it will become clearer later on.

Next: Yugi continues the fight he started.

R&R.


	2. Defeat

Here's the next chapter.

I will be leaving later today, Thursday 5/13, to go to see some family for a long weekend. I'll be out of town until either late Sunday 5/16 pr MOnday 5/17. I'm not sure what day I'll get back. I won't be able to update again until Monday 5/17, though. I'm planning to take my laptop. I hope to get some writing done, but I'll update again on Monday, 5/17.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2- Defeat

Seto groaned. "Okay. Of all the things I expected to happen, _that _wasn't one of them." Seto said.

"What was that?" Serenity asked, sitting up.

"Magic of some sort." Seto answered.

Yami sat up, wincing. He had slammed into a tree, so his back was hurting him. "That was no ordinary magic, Seto." Yami said.

All eyes turned to Yami.

"Then what kind of magic was it, Yami?" Tea asked.

"Shadow magic. That was without a doubt Shadow magic." Yami said.

"Very good, Yami. You actually figured something out. I thought that someone else would have had to figure it out. You were Pharaoh, so you were just told everything. You never had to think on your own." Yugi said sardonically.

This surprised them all.

"Okay. I really don't like this new Yugi." Joey said.

"Like I give a damn if you like me or not." Yugi said.

Seto and Yami stood up.

"Okay. He has Shadow magic. I thought that as a Hikari, he had Light magic, not Shadow magic." Seto said.

"He does. I have no idea how this Shadow magic came about." Yami said.

"Really? Well, that's very interesting, Yami." Yugi said.

"Okay. Could someone please shut him up?" Tristan asked.

"Why? Because you don't want to hear what I've had to say. That's all you've done." Yugi said angrily.

"What is he talking about?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, I've-" Joey started.

"Tristan! Joey! Stop talking!" Yami barked. He knew that the more they talked the angrier Yugi would become.

Both stopped talking because of the force behind Yami's voice.

"So, still the lapdogs of the crew." Yugi said.

Joey started to say something, but one sharp glare from Yami caused him to keep his mouth shut.

"Enough talk. Time for the fun." Yugi said.

Quick as a flash, Yugi had formed a ball of Shadow magic and thrown it at Yami.

Yami tried to use his own Shadow magic to block the attack and was horrified when he realized that he didn't have his Shadow magic.

The attack Yugi had unleashed slammed right into Yami's chest and slammed him into the ground.

"Yami!" Tea and Serenity exclaimed at the same time. The two girls ran over to where he was.

"Yami, are you okay?" Tea asked.

Yami coughed as he sat up, wincing at the pain.

"Yami, what happened?" Seto asked, never taking his eyes off of Yugi. He was worried now, especially since Yugi wore a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I-I don't know." Yami said.

"I thought you had Shadow magic, Yams." Joey said as he and Tristan helped Yami up.

Yami was on shaky legs, so Joey and Tristan both kept their arms around Yami to keep him from falling.

"I do, or I did." Yami said.

"Did?" Mokuba asked, not liking the sound of that.

"I don't have my Shadow magic. It's gone." Yami said.

"And where do you think it went, Pharaoh?" Yugi asked. His hands were glowing purple.

Suddenly, the answer struck Seto. "Damn it! Yugi has your Shadow magic!" Seto said.

"Very good thinking, Seto. It won't help you, though." Yugi said.

"I think we'd better run." Tea said.

"We'll never outrun him." Joey said.

"So true." Yugi said. He formed another ball of Shadow magic.

Everyone tensed, wondering what he would do.

"I think running would be a good idea." Yami said.

"I don't think so." Yugi said. The ball of shadow magic then shifted to form a sword. "I have a bone to pick." Yugi said.

"With who?" Seto demanded.

"With the Pharaoh." Yugi said.

And for the first time, they all saw the look of murder in Yugi's eyes.

Instantly, Yami knew. He knew that Yugi intended to kill him.

Yugi prepared to attack.

"Yugi! Stop!"

Yugi whirled around to find himself facing Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Ryou, and Malik.

"Yugi, don't do this." Atemu said.

"Stay out of this, Atemu! This is none of your concern!" Yugi spat angrily.

"I'm sorry, Yugi, but this is my concern. I can't let you do this." Atemu said.

Yugi's eyes flashed angrily. "If you choose to protect them, then you're my enemy as well." Yugi said.

Atemu visibly flinched at that, but he knew he had no choice. He used his Shadow magic to form a sword of his own. "I can't let you harm innocent people, Yugi." Atemu said.

"Innocent? These lowlifes are far from innocent!" Yugi spat.

Those words both scared and angered the ones the remark was thrown at.

Almost all of them.

For Yami, it sent a chill down his spine as well as tore at his heart.

"Yugi, none of us want to fight with you, but we will if we have to." Bakura said, forming his own sword form his Shadow magic.

"Yeah." Marik agreed, forming a sword as well.

"Then so be it." Yugi said angrily.

"Ryou, Malik. Get them and get out of here. I don't care where you go. Just go and get them as far away from here as you can." Atemu said.

"Right." Ryou said.

Ryou and Malik slowly moved away from them.

Yugi's eyes turned even darker before he attacked.

Atemu was the first target.

Atemu managed to black Yugi's sword with his own only to find a knee in his stomach.

Bakura moved behind and tried to attack Yugi, but Yugi ducked and kicked Bakura in the stomach, throwing Bakura down to the ground.

Marik reached out to grab Yugi, but Yugi grabbed a hold of his wrist and easily flipped Marik onto the ground.

Atemu moved forward, but Yugi flicked his wrist and sent Atemu crashing right through a tree, causing a cry of pain to escape from Atemu.

Meanwhile, Ryou and Malik managed to reach the others.

"Come on! We have to get you out of here!" Ryou said.

"What about them?" Seto asked, seeing all three go down.

"They'll be fine. We have to get you out of here." Malik said.

"We can't just-" Yami started.

"Yami, look at yourself!" Ryou said angrily, losing patience.

This startled them since it was coming from Ryou, who was always soft-spoken and gentle.

"You can't even stand on your own! You don't have a shred of Shadow magic to use! And Yugi wants to kill you! If you stay here, you are only going to get yourself killed along with everyone else!" Ryou snapped.

"Come on! We need to get away from here." Malik said urgently, just as upset and angered as Ryou was at the moment.

"Where do we go?" Serenity asked.

Atemu's cry of pain got all their attention.

This startled them to see Atemu, one of the strongest in Shadow magic, go down.

"Anywhere but here." Ryou said.

"But-" Yami started, not wanting to leave Atemu like this.

"Yami, if we don't leave now, then Atemu _will _get killed. If you leave now, he has a chance to survive." Ryou said.

"We'll go to my mansion." Seto said.

The group quickly left the park, hoping to get as far away from the area as possible.

Yugi, sensing the disappearance of the others, turned back. "Well, you let my prey get away." Yugi said. He then turned his attention to Bakura. "I guess I'll have to deal with you first." Yugi said.

"Yugi, stop this madness! We are your friends, not your enemies! We don't want to fight with you!" Bakura said.

"Well, that's too bad." Yugi said. He brought his sword up and brought it down at Bakura.

Bakura used his sword to block it.

Yugi's eyes darkened, and his sword started glowing.

Bakura was horrified when his sword shattered.

Yugi then flicked his wrist and sent Bakura slamming into the ground, causing a groan of pain to escape from Bakura.

"Yugi, stop!" Marik shouted, going at him.

Yugi easily ducked out of the way of Marik's attack, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and then threw Marik forward into a tree.

Marik wasn't able to get up.

"You three are pathetic." Yugi said.

Atemu managed to get on his feet. "Yugi, please! Don't do this!" Atemu said, not wanting to fight with his friend.

Yugi turned his dark, almost black eyes, onto Atemu. "You brought this on yourself, Atemu. If you hadn't stated to protect your worthless brother, I wouldn't have to do this." Yugi said.

"What choice do I have? This isn't what you really want! Yami doesn't deserve this!" Atemu said, becoming desperate.

"Didn't deserve this? He is the cause of all that happened to me!" Yugi shouted, tears coming.

"Yugi, please. Don't." Atemu said.

Yugi grew angry. He threw out his hand and sent Atemu flying backwards, crashing to the ground painfully.

"Atemu!" Bakura and Marik shouted in shock and horror.

"This isn't over." Yugi hissed angrily before he disappeared in purple smoke.

"Damn!" Bakura said, getting up shakily.

"I can't believe Yugi was able to do this. When did he learn to fight?" Marik asked.

"Never mind!" Bakura snapped before he ran over to Atemu.

Atemu groaned in pain.

"Atemu, you going to be okay?" Bakura asked.

"I have no idea." Atemu said.

Marik and Bakura helped Atemu up. Each one had one of Atemu's arms around their shoulder, keeping him on his feet.

Atemu winced painfully. "Bakura, I am so glad that Ryou has the ability to heal injuries because if he didn't, I think that I would be in the hospital." Atemu said.

"Trust me. We're all going to need Ryou's healing ability. Marik, call them. See where they are." Bakura said.

Marik nodded and pulled out his cell phone.

* * *

The others had arrived at the Kaiba mansion.

Not one of them were okay. They were all too upset after what had just happened.

"Okay. How did Yugi get Yams' Shadow magic, and why the hell did he attack us?" Joey demanded.

"How? Don't have a clue." Malik said.

"What about why?" Seto asked.

"We don't know." Ryou said, quickly. His look clearly told Malik to keep quiet.

None of them noticed the silent exchange between the two Hikaris.

"What about Atemu? And Marik and Bakura? We don't have a way to know what happened to them." Yami said.

"They're fine. They're stronger than you think." Ryou said.

"How can you say that after what you saw? Yugi was crazy and attacking anyone for any reason!" Tea exclaimed.

"I know that, Tea!" Ryou snapped angrily. "I'm saying that because I don't want to think of the alternative if they're not all right!" Ryou shouted.

Tea stepped back, startled by this.

None of them understood the change that had happened in Ryou.

"What?" Ryou snapped, tired of the stares.

"Well, when did you change? I mean, you were never this authoritative, this loud, or this snappy." Joey said.

"Bakura is my Yami and my boyfriend. What did you expect?" Ryou asked.

"He makes a good point." Mokuba said.

Malik's cell phone rang. He took it out and answered.

"He's answering his phone now?" Tristan asked.

"Hello?" Malik said, ignoring the comment from Tristan.

"_Malik._" Marik said.

"Marik! Thank Ra! Are you all right? What about Bakura and Atemu?" Malik asked.

"_We'll be fine. We're banged up, but it's nothing that a little of Ryou's healing magic won't fix._" Marik said.

"That's good." Malik said.

"_Listen. We need to know here you are so we'll know where to come._" Marik said.

"We're at the Kaiba mansion." Malik said.

"_Okay. We're on the way._" Marik said.

"Okay." Malik said and hung up.

"Well?" Ryou asked, wanting to know about his boyfriend and friends.

"They're okay. They'll need some of your healing magic, but I don't think it's too serious. They're on their way." Malik said.

Ryou nodded. He had already healed Yami, so he would be prepared to heal Atemu, Marik, and Bakura.

"What about Yugi?" Joey asked.

"I don't know. He didn't say." Malik said.

Ryou knew what that meant. Marik didn't say anything about Yugi, which couldn't have been a good thing.

* * *

Yugi was angry.

"I can't believe that they all turned their backs on me! I can't believe that they would protect those lowlifes after all they put me through!" Yugi said angrily.

Yugi slammed his fist into the ground of the meadow area he was in.

"I won't let this go on! I won't let Yami get away with all he did to me!" Yugi said angrily.

Yugi pressed his back against a tree and slid down to the ground. He covered his face with his hands as tears started falling. Sobs started to wrack his body.

Unwelcome, painful memories came flowing back.

Yugi felt as if what had happened in the past was happening all over again.

'Why? Why did Yami do this to me?' Yugi asked himself, not feeling vengeful. He felt broken.

* * *

Ryou and Malik were both shocked and horrified to see that Atemu was being helped into the mansion by their boyfriends.

"Atemu, what the hell happened?" Ryou asked.

"I think our dear friend here really pissed Yugi off. He sent him flying so hard that he's having trouble moving." Bakura said.

"Bakura." Atemu said.

"Yeah." Bakura said, looking over at his friend.

"Shut the hell up!" Atemu snapped.

Bakura smirked. "Given the fact that you're having trouble moving and you're needing my Hikari to heal your ass, I don't think your at liberty to tell me something like that." Bakura said.

Atemu just glared at him.

"Bakura, stop it." Ryou ordered.

"But Ry-"Bakura started.

"Don't! Can you two set Atemu on the couch?" Ryou asked.

"Sure thing." Marik said.

The couch cleared, and the two helped Atemu sit down.

Atemu winced at the pain that jolted through him at the action.

"You really are in pain." Ryou said, sitting beside Atemu.

"You could say that. I'm just glad Bakura decided to teleport us here using Shadow magic instead of walking. That would have been hard." Atemu said.

"I agree." Ryou said. He placed a hand on Atemu's shoulder and his body started to glow white.

A moment later, Atemu was completely healed.

"Thanks, Ryou." Atemu said.

"No problem." Ryou said. He looked over at Bakura and Marik. "Do you two need to be healed?" Ryou asked.

"Couldn't hurt." Marik admitted.

Ryou went ahead and healed the two just to be safe.

"How bad was it?" Malik asked.

"Fighting Yugi?" Bakura asked.

Malik nodded.

"Painful." Marik said.

"How can Yugi defeat you three when you have full control and excellent knowledge of your Shadow magic when Yugi has no control and little knowledge of it?" Malik asked.

"No idea. What I would like to know is when Yugi learned how to fight? He kicked our asses! Without the Shadow magic!" Marik exclaimed.

"I think that has more to do with the Shadow magic than Yugi." Atemu said, leaning back into the couch.

"What do you mean?" Tea asked.

Yami sighed. "Shadow magic is unpredictable. That's why it's so dangerous. The fact is that Shadow magic is actually a living force. My bet is that the Shadow magic has given Yugi the knowledge and power to fight like an expert as well as have such good control." Yami said.

"So, it's more the Shadow magic that is fighting than Yugi?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah." Yami said.

"So, how do we stop it?" Tea asked.

"_We _don't. None of you can help us in this situation." Bakura spat angrily.

"Yugi's trying to kill _us. _We have to do something to protect ourselves." Joey retorted.

"What are you going to do? We have Shadow magic, and we were defeated by him. You don't have magic to protect you. You'd be a sitting duck out on the battle field!" Bakura snapped back.

"Bakura, cool it!" Atemu snapped.

Bakura looked at Atemu.

"Fighting won't solve the problem we have." Atemu said. He then looked over at Joey. "Bakura is right, though. Yugi is dangerous, and right now, he's planning to kill Yami." Atemu said.

This words had Yami wincing.

Atemu noticed this, but he felt no sympathy for his brother.

"So, what now? I mean, he could come after us at any time." Serenity said.

"Well, the five of us can combine our powers and create a shield around all of the grounds of the mansion. The mansion and the grounds. The combination of Shadow magic and Light magic would be strong enough to keep Yugi from getting in." Atemu said.

"Then do it." Seto said.

"However, it means that all seven of you will have to live in the mansion until further notice." Bakura said.

"What?"

"There's no choice. We only have enough power to d this to one place. This is the largest place, and you could all stay here." Atemu said.

"Seto, I don't think we have a choice." Joey said.

Seto groaned. "Fine." Seto said.

"What am I supposed to tell my parents?" Tea demanded.

"Yeah." Tristan said.

"Lie. Make an excuse, _any _excuse. Quite frankly, I don't give a damn how you do it!" Atemu snapped.

This startled them.

"Come on. Let's put the damned shield up." Bakura said.

The five then combined their magic to put a shield around the entire grounds.

"I don't see anything." Joey said.

"The shield is invisible. It's designed to keep anyone with Shadow magic out unless invited. Since we put the shield up, we can come and go as we please. Yugi will be forced out." Atemu said.

"Well, might as well start figuring this out." Tea said.

"Yeah." Tristan said.

"Yami, you're staying here as well." Atemu said.

"What? Why?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. You two live in the same house. He'd be safe there." Mokuba said.

"Because he'll be safer somewhere that Yugi can't get to." Atemu retorted.

'Besides, Atemu's not so sure that he would be able to protect Yami given the fact that Atemu is pissed at Yami.' Ryou thought, knowing the real reason.

"You'll all get your stuff, and we'll bring you back. We can use the power of our Shadow magic to teleport you all the different homes. It'll be faster." Atemu said.

"Hey, Atemu. What are we doing?" Bakura asked.

Atemu looked at him. "What?" Atemu asked.

"When Yugi lost control due to the Shadow magic, he destroyed our house. The four of us don't have a place to stay." Bakura said.

Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik had shared the house.

"Hmm. That's true." Atemu said.

"Well, as you pointed out, the mansion has plenty of room." Seto said.

"No. They can stay at the Game Shop with me. No telling how much longer Grandpa will be at that archeological dig." Atemu said.

"But-" Seto started.

"It's fine." Marik interrupted.

"What if he attacks you?" Tea asked.

"We have the power to defend ourselves." Malik retorted.

"Let's just go." Atemu said. His real reason for getting Bakura and Marik to stay with him was because he was afraid that they would end up kill Yami, which was what he feared he would do.

Using the Shadow magic, Atemu took Yami to the Game Shop, Marik took Tea to her house, and Bakura took Tristan to his house.

"How do you think this will end?" Malik asked Ryou quietly.

"I don't know." Ryou replied.

* * *

Yugi growled.

"Atemu thinks he can protect them. I'll find a way to break through that shield. I'll kill them all when I do." Yugi said.

Yugi paced back and forth across the meadow.

"I won't be deterred. I will get my revenge somehow." Yugi said.

Yugi's eyes flashed angrily.

"I won't let you get away with this, Yami!" Yugi spat, though no one could hear him.

* * *

Once done, Atemu, Marik, and Bakura took the three back to the Kaiba mansion.

"So, how did it go?" Seto asked.

"My parents are leaving on a trip for the next two months. They're taking my little brother with them. I would have had to go, but since you "offered" to let me stay with you, my parents are letting me stay." Tea said.

"My parents didn't mind that much. My dad has business trip. This way, my mom can go." Tristan said

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're all leaving." Bakura said.

"Hold it. You're not going to tell us anything." Joey said.

"What do you want us to tell you?" Atemu asked.

"I don't know. Maybe why Yugi's doing this." Joey said.

Ryou and Malik looked at each other nervously.

"Now why would we give you any answers? You're the problem!" Bakura spat.

"We were the ones who wee attacked! We didn't do anything!" Tristan retorted.

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that." Marik said.

Seto got angry. "We didn't do anything. Yugi's the one who went out of control and attacked us. He's the one that started all this." Seto said.

Atemu turned, not wanting to deal with this anymore.

"Atemu." Yami said.

Atemu turned to him. "What?" Atemu growled.

Yami had never bee spoken to by his brother like that. It startled him.

"Why are you mad at Yami?" Tea asked, getting defensive of her friend.

"What did you want, Yami?" Atemu asked.

Yami could tell by the look in Atemu's eyes that he was angry. He could also tell that this was the type of anger that Atemu barely had control of, which meant that Atemu could explode at any time. What bothered Yami the most was the fact that the anger in Atemu's eyes was directed at him "Atemu, we need to know what is going on." Yami said.

Atemu looked away.

"We deserve something." Yami said.

Atemu looked at his brother. "Fine. I might tell you everything if you can tell me the last time you saw Yugi." Atemu said.

Yami started to answer.

"Not today. Before today. When was the last time you spent time with Yugi? When was the last time you had an actual conversation with Yugi? When was the last time you talked to Yugi through your link? When was the last time you actually paid any attention to Yugi? When was the last time you spent any time alone with Yugi?" Atemu said.

Yami was startled by this list of questions.

"Other than the mind link question, all of you think about them. When you can answer me that, we might tell you what is going on. Until then, you're just going to have to live with wondering." Atemu said.

Yami didn't know what to make of that statement. He always spent time with Yugi. Yugi was his Hikari, after all.

"Think about it for a few days." Atemu said.

Atemu, Marik, and Bakura then used their Shadow magic to transport themselves plus Ryou and Malik out of the Kaiba mansion and to the Game Shop.

The seven were left in shock.

"What the hell was that about?" Joey asked.

"I'm not sure." Yami said.

"I say that the next time we see them, we force them to tell us what the hell is going on." Tristan said.

"Yeah." Mokuba agreed.

"No." Yami said.

"Why not?" Seto asked.

"I know that look in Atemu's eyes. His anger was barely controlled. One wrong word and he would have snapped. Believe me. I have seen Atemu in absolute rage, and you don't want to see that." Yami said.

"What do we do?" Tea asked.

"Think about what Atemu said. Maybe it'll give us some answers." Yami said.

* * *

The five arrived in the Game Shop.

"Of all the low things to do! I can't believe that those people think they deserve to know the truth!" Bakura said.

"Maybe they do." Ryou said.

"Not a chance! They are the problem!" Marik said.

"We're not dealing with this now. I told them to think about that for a reason. I want them to realize on their own how long it has truly been since the last time they paid Yugi any attention." Atemu said.

"If they realize that, will you tell them?" Ryou asked.

"Maybe. I don't know yet. It depends on their reaction to what they realize." Atemu said.

"What now?" Marik asked.

"We go to bed and go to school tomorrow. We'll have to be ready for whatever Yugi pulls." Atemu said.

The other knew that Atemu was right.

They all headed upstairs.

Atemu showed them the rooms they could stay in.

All five then went to bed, preparing themselves for a long struggle with Yugi to come. They knew saving Yugi wouldn't be easy. They also knew telling the others the truth behind all this would also be hard.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Note: It will be quite a few chapters before you find out what casued Yugi to get the Shadow magic and go out of control as well as why he wnats to kill Yami.

Next: Stupidity results in another confrontation with Yugi.

R&R.


	3. Stupidity

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 3- Stupidity

The following day, everyone who was staying in the Kaiba mansion for the time being went downstairs for breakfast.

"Damn, Yami! What happened to you?" Tristan exclaimed.

Yami looked tired and haggard.

"What'd you do? Have a party we all slept through?" Seto asked.

"Very funny." Yami snapped.

"Yams, what's going on?" Joey asked.

"I couldn't sleep last night." Yami said as he sat down.

"Thinking about what happened yesterday?" Tea asked.

"Partly. I was also thinking about what Atemu said yesterday." Yami said.

"Did you figure anything out?" Mokuba asked.

"Not really." Yami answered.

"Well, let's hope that we figure out what Atemu meant by that. He might not tell us otherwise." Serenity said.

"I still don't get why he's so angry at us. It's not like _we _did anything wrong." Seto said.

"Seto, there's no way to know what is going on in Atemu's head." Joey said.

"Look. Atemu had a reason for asking us to think about those questions he asked us last night. Atemu wouldn't have asked us to think about them if he thought that they were meaningless questions. He had a reason." Yami said.

"What reason?" Tristan asked.

"That I don't know." Yami admitted.

Tea sighed. "So, Yugi's trying to kill you, and you don't even know why he's doing this." Tea said.

"He's just gone loony if you ask me." Tristan said.

"Maybe, but there's nothing we can do right now. " Seto said.

"There must be something that we can do, though. I mean, we have to defend ourselves." Joey said.

"How, Joey? I don't have my Shadow magic now. Yugi does. We don't know how he got it or what has made him so angry." Yami said.

"I'll say this. I never thought that Yugi had it in him to use language like that, much less act like that. I never thought he could look so angry and vengeful." Seto said.

"Or evil. That's what I thought of when I saw him." Mokuba said.

"Yeah. It doesn't seem like Yugi at all." Joey agreed.

"Well, whatever is going on, Yugi needs to get over it. Nothing could warrant what he is doing." Tristan said.

Everyone but Yami agreed.

'That's exactly what I'm afraid of, Tristan. I'm afraid that something happened that does warrant this.' Yami thought.

* * *

Atemu opened his eyes when his alarm went off. He reached over and turned off the alarm clock. He yawned before he climbed out of bed. He got out his school uniform before he headed for the bathroom. He was surprised when he saw Ryou coming out of one of the rooms until he remembered the events of the day before, and his mood darkened. "Hello, Ryou. How did you sleep?" Atemu asked.

Ryou smiled. "Fine." Ryou answered.

"There's a shower in Grandpa's room. We have to share the two bathrooms, so we'll all have to use them." Atemu said.

"Sure thing." Ryou said.

Atemu then headed into the bathroom. He took a quick shower and got dressed before he headed back to his room. He gathered his books together before he headed downstairs.

Ryou was already in the kitchen, looking around. "You don't mind me fixing breakfast, do you?" Ryou asked.

"No. Its better you do. I'm not that great at cooking." Atemu said.

Ryou smiled. "Sure thing." Ryou said and started making breakfast.

Malik came down dressed and ready a few moments later, shortly followed By Bakura and Marik.

"How'd everyone sleep?" Atemu asked.

"Fine." was the chorus of answers.

Once Ryou had breakfast ready, everyone sat down and started eating.

"Okay. No one else is going to bring it up, so I will. What the hell are we going to do about Yugi?" Marik asked.

"I don't know. I mean, he took all three of us down." Atemu said.

"That was a feat in itself." Ryou added.

"I'd rather know how Yugi got Yami's Shadow magic. It just shouldn't happen that a Hikari gain their Yami's magic." Bakura said.

"I agree. It shouldn't have happened, but it did." Atemu said.

"How, though?" Malik asked.

Atemu ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense at all." Atemu said.

"One thing that is certain is that Yugi has Yami's Shadow magic. What's worse is that he seems to have some control over it." Bakura said.

"Yugi's also dead-set on killing Yami. From the looks of it, he has only that in mind." Malik said.

"I say the bastard deserves it! After everything he's done, I say he deserves it all. The rest of them don't deserve any mercy or protection, either." Bakura spat angrily.

Atemu groaned. "I know they don't, Bakura, but whether we like it or not, we have to protect them." Atemu said.

"Why?" Marik demanded.

"Because Yugi, the real, innocent, kind Yugi, would not want them to die. We all know that." Ryou said.

"He's right." Atemu agreed.

"All right. Just know that we are protecting their sorry asses under protest and against for Yugi's sake only." Bakura said.

"Duly noted." Atemu said.

Once they finished eating, they left for school.

"So, since the chances of Yugi coming to school are next to nothing, what are we telling the school?" Ryou asked.

"I'll tell them that Yugi is very ill and can't come to school. With any luck, we can resolve this fast." Atemu said.

"The good thing is that we get three weeks off after this week, so we only have to lie for four says." Ryou said.

"And it is believable that a person can be sick for that long." Malik agreed.

"I just hope that those bastards don't try and get anything out of us, or I swear that I am using my Shadow magic on them." Bakura grumbled.

"Bakura! No Shadow magic at school! You know that!" Ryou scolded.

"But-" Bakura started.

"No! You are NOT using your magic at school!" Ryou snapped.

Bakura sighed angrily. "Fine!" Bakura retorted.

"That goes for you, too, Marik. I don't want you using Shadow magic at school under any circumstances." Malik said.

"But-" Marik started.

"No. I'm not taking the risk." Malik said.

Marik groaned. "Oh, all right." Malik said.

Atemu shook his head.

"Atemu-" Ryou started.

"Ryou, you don't need to worry about me. I don't plan on using my Shadow magic. I have more self-control than they do." Atemu said.

"I was going to ask are you all right." Ryou said softly.

Atemu stopped walking, and the others followed suit.

"I haven't been all right in nearly nine months, Ryou. The last five have been pure hell. Now, I'm going to have fight someone who is a close friend, someone who is more like a brother to me. I hate everything about this situation. I won't be all right again until Yugi is back and more like his old self." Atemu admitted.

"We'll all feel better when that happens." Bakura agreed.

The five headed on the school.

* * *

When Yami, Seto, and the others arrived at school, they found that Atemu, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik were already there.

Serenity and Mokuba were sophomores, so they were in different classes than the rest of them.

"Looks who's here." Tristan muttered.

"Cool it." Tea said.

The group sat down in their usual seats, across the room from Atemu and the others.

"So, do you think Yugi's going to show up?" Joey asked.

"I doubt it. From the way he acted, I don't think that he plans on that." Yami said.

"I just hope Yugi's not going to attack here where all these people are." Seto said, looking around nervously.

"I hadn't even thought of that." Tea said.

Yami glanced over at where Atemu was. He noticed Atemu talking quietly to the others. 'When did Atemu become best friends with Bakura and Marik after all they did? And why does he seem to be so angry with me? Why does he now more about what is going on with my Hikari than I do? What is going on?' Yami asked himself

A hand on Yami's shoulder brought him out of his thoughts.

"You okay?" Tristan asked.

"I guess." Yami said.

"We'll get out of this mess somehow." Seto assured him.

"I'm not worried about the mess. I'm worried about Yugi. This isn't like him. Something has to be wrong to drive him to this, and I'd like to know how he got my Shadow magic without me knowing it." Yami explained.

"With any luck, this won't last long." Joey said.

The teacher came in and started calling the role. "Yugi Mutou." she said.

There was silence, causing her to look up.

Atemu stood up. "Ma'am, Yugi is very sick, and I don't think he'll be able to make it to school for the rest of the week." Atemu said in a believable manner.

"Very well. Take his assignments home to him." she said.

"Yes, ma'am." Atemu said before he sat back down.

Roll call then resumed.

* * *

"So, how are we gong to tackle Yugi?" Bakura asked.

The five were on the roof of the school, trying to sort this out.

Atemu sighed, leaning back against the wall. "I honestly don't know, Bakura. The fact that he took all three of us down, experienced fighters and experienced wielders of Shadow magic, shows that we are in trouble." Atemu said.

"Yugi's running on anger. It makes him stronger." Marik said.

"True. The more negative feelings you have, the more power you have when in possession of Shadow magic." Bakura agreed.

"Well, Yugi's got plenty of negative emotions to draw on." Malik said.

"If we don't stop him, there's no telling what he might do. Shadow magic is unpredictable, and with someone as emotionally unbalanced as Yugi is right now, it could cause a lot of damage." Bakura stated.

"How can we stop him, though? We don't even know how he got the Shadow magic." Ryou said.

"Well, we can try to reason with him. We can try to get him to realize that the course of action he is taking is not the best." Atemu said.

"And failing that?" Bakura asked.

"We fight him and hope we figure out what caused this to happen." Atemu said.

Ryou shifted uneasily.

"Ry, what's wrong?" Bakura asked.

"I'm not sure. One of those bad feelings I get." Ryou said.

"Ry, I swear that those bad feelings are premonitions because whenever you get bad feelings, something bad happens." Bakura said.

"I know." Ryou said.

"Ryou, any clue what this bad feeling is about?" Atemu asked.

"I don't know. I just have a feeling that things are going to get worse before they get better, and I think that we're going to have to tell Yami and the others the **entire **truth before this is over with." Ryou said.

"Great. They get to know everything and prove they really are selfish bastards who care for no one, but themselves." Malik said sarcastically.

"Malik, not the time." Atemu said.

"Sorry." Malik said.

"I also think that the others are going to make things a hell of a lot worse." Ryou said.

"Of course they are. They're making everything worse." Bakura said.

* * *

Yami and the others were talking under the Sakura tree where they always met.

"So, what do we do now?" Tristan asked.

"About what?" Mokuba asked.

"All this. I mean, do we just do as Atemu said and stay in hiding?" Tristan asked.

"Given the alternative, we don't have a choice. I mean, Yugi could kill us all." Yami said.

"I don't like the idea of hiding. I've never hidden from anything in my entire life, and I ain't startin' now!" Joey said.

"What do you propose?" Tea asked.

"Hunt Yugi down and demand answers. He can't just go around doing this. No reason is worth this. I sure don't deserve this, and I refuse to live in fear." Joey said.

"I agree." Tristan said.

"That's not a good idea." Yami said.

"Come on, Yami. You can't tell me that you want to continue like this, wondering when Yugi's going to strike next. He's trying to kill. He could have yesterday." Joey said.

"I know that, Joey." Yami said.

"Then we put an end to this now. I'm not going to stay hidden forever." Joey said.

"I agree." Seto said.

"Guys-" Yami started.

"Let's get this over with. I really don't want to have to deal with this." Mokuba agreed.

Serenity nodded her agreement.

Yami knew that this was a bad idea. 'They're overlooking the most important detail. Yugi has my Shadow magic, which makes him very dangerous.' Yami thought.

* * *

Yugi stood on a tower overlooking Domino High School.

"So, they all went to school like nothing happened. Typical. Not like they care about the pain they've caused." Yugi growled.

Shadow magic swirled around Yugi's hands as his anger started to spike.

"Just wait, Yami. Atemu can't protect you forever. You have no way to defend yourself. Those damned friends of yours can't protect you from me, either. I will make you pay." Yugi hissed.

Yugi clenched his hand into a fist. His eyes seemed to grow dark as the midnight sky.

"I won't allow you to live happy and care free. You don't deserve it. You don't deserve freedom. You don't deserve anything." Yugi growled angrily.

* * *

Atemu, Marik, Bakura, Ryou, and Malik all looked up.

"I can sense Yugi." Malik said.

"We all can." Bakura said.

"He's angry." Ryou remarked.

"Yeah. It's making the Shadow magic fire up." Marik agreed.

"We need to be on guard at all times now. There's no telling when we might have to fight him." Atemu said. The mere thought of fighting with Yugi made Atemu upset.

"Think he'll attack now?" Malik asked.

"I don't know." Atemu admitted.

* * *

Yami had also sensed the build-up of Shadow magic. 'That's not good.' Yami thought.

Yami then looked over at his friends.

They were still talking about confronting Yugi and ending this.

'They don't realize what they're getting into. They're never seen the true power of Shadow magic, and that's something that not one of them are prepared for.' Yami thought. He placed a hand on the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. 'Yugi, what happened to you that caused this?' Yami asked himself.

* * *

After school, Yami and the others headed to the park where Yugi had first attacked them.

"So, how do we draw Yugi out?" Serenity asked.

"Well, we've got to find a way. I'm not going to live in fear of him. I don't care if he is a friend." Joey said.

"Friend? That's a laugh."

All seven turned to find themselves facing Yugi.

Yugi looked even crueler than before, if that was possible.

"So, you come out of hiding." Joey said.

"I wasn't in hiding. You're the one who hid inside the mansion behind a shield like a coward, Wheeler." Yugi retorted.

Joey growled. "Watch it!" Joey spat.

"Or what? Going to get your rich boyfriend to go after me? There's not much he can do to me." Yugi said.

"You think so?" Seto asked.

Yugi smirked. "How stupid do you think I am, Kaiba? Did you honestly think that I didn't know that you and Wheeler over here are Yami and Hikari yourselves?" Yugi asked.

Seto and Joey both looked shocked at that

The others looked at them in shock.

"You are?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, but we didn't see a point in telling anyone." Joey said.

"Please. Not everyone is blind to the obvious. I knew that before you two ever did. I just never said a word." Yugi said.

"So, you know I can fight you." Seto said.

Yugi only smirked. "Kaiba, if I could defeat Atemu, Bakura, and Marik, three Yamis with much more knowledge and control over their Shadow magic than you, how hard do you think it would be for me to defeat you? And don't think that Wheeler and his Light magic can save you." Yugi said.

Seto grimaced. He had hoped to have the element of surprise, but that just went out the window.

Before anyone had the chance to react, Yugi had had flicked his wrist and an invisible force sent them all backwards.

Everyone landed hard on the ground.

"Damn!" Seto growled.

"Okay. So much for the element of surprise." Joey said.

"Telling us would have been nice." Tristan said through gritted teeth.

"We didn't think it mattered." Joey retorted.

"Oh, it mattered. You just didn't realize it." Yami said, looking up. He saw the cruelty in Yugi's eyes. 'This isn't Yugi. Not the one I know and love.' Yami thought.

"Yami, talk to Yugi through the link." Seto said.

"I've tried. I can't reach him." Yami replied.

Yugi started forward.

Seto wasn't about to go down without a fight. He forced a sword and went at Yugi.

Yugi, however, easily caught Seto's wrist before he slammed his knee into Seto's stomach. He then used his Shadow magic to send Seto crashing backwards.

"Seto!" Joey shouted.

With another flick of his wrist, Yugi sent the rest of them flying, separating them.

Yugi snorted. "Pathetic. And they were going to try and stop me." Yugi said.

Yami groaned in pain. He didn't understand how Yugi could do all this.

Yugi walked over to where Yami was. He then stepped down hard on Yami's wrist.

The sound of Yami's wrist snapping was heard.

Yami cried out.

"So, the great and powerful Pharaoh is reduced to this. That's just plain out pathetic." Yugi said.

Yami looked up at Yugi. "Why, Yugi? Why are you doing this?" Yami asked through the pain.

"You should know. You caused it all." Yugi said. He then reached down and grabbed Yami by the throat before lifting him up and slamming him back against the tree.

Yami winced at the pain shooting through him. He raised his uninjured hand up to grab Yugi's wrist, but he couldn't loosen then hold.

"Yami!" Joey shouted, running toward him.

Yugi held his free hand out and sent Joey flying backwards.

"Your pathetic friends can't help you this time, Yami. You don't have anyone to save you." Yugi said in a dangerous voice.

Yami was scared, and being scared of his own Hikari only made him more scared.

Yugi's hand tightened around Yami's throat, making it near impossible for Yami to breath.

"Yami!" Tea shrieked.

Yugi sensed a blast of Shadow magic coming at him. He let go of Yami, who fell, and immediately jumped backwards out of the path of the attack. He turned to see Atemu with his hand outstretched.

"I should have known it was you." Yugi said.

"Yugi, enough!" Atemu said.

"No, Atemu. You're not going to stop me." Yugi said.

"Yugi, we don't want to fight you." Bakura said.

"If you want to save their pathetic lives, you're going to have to." Yugi said.

None of them were happy at being called pathetic.

Bakura gritted his teeth. "I can't believe I'm wasting my skill on protecting people who aren't worth it." Bakura said.

Atemu sent another blast of Shadow magic at Yugi, but Yugi only countered with his own.

The two attacks canceled each other out.

Seto, Joey, Tea, Tristan, Serenity, and Mokuba got over to Yami, who was coughing.

"Yami, are you okay?" Serenity asked.

"I-" Yami coughed, "think so."

"Damn. Yugi's stronger than we thought." Tristan said.

"No joke." Joey said.

"I knew this was mistake. You overlooked the fact that Yugi has my Shadow magic, which makes him more dangerous the average person." Yami said.

"Why didn't say so?" Seto demanded.

Yami glared at him. "You wouldn't listen to me." Yami said.

Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Ryou, and Malik moved in front of them.

Atemu turned and glared so fiercely at them that all seven flinched. "You had better hope that Yugi kills me because if he doesn't, I swear that you are going to regret doing something as stupid and idiotic as this." Atemu hissed.

Not one of them doubted his words.

Yugi contemplated his options. 'Nah. I won't fight them today. Atemu, Bakura, and Marik I have no problem with. Ryou and Malik, either. They just have a mixed up sense of loyalty. Why they protect them, I don't know, but it will be something they will regret.' Yugi thought.

Bakura, Marik, and Atemu prepared for a fight.

"I'll let you off this time, but be warned, the next time we meet, I wont' hold back. Watch the company you keep." Yugi said. His eyes darkened. "And not one of you are going to live when I'm done." Yugi said before he vanished in purple smoke.

"That was unexpected." Bakura said.

"I was sure that he planned to fight us." Marik agreed.

Atemu turned and glared angrily at Yami and the others.

All seven were scared.

"Atemu-" Ryou started.

"Bakura. Mansion. Now." Atemu said through gritted teeth.

"Sure." Bakura said. He used his Shadow magic to teleport them out of the park after making sure no one was there to witness it.

* * *

"Next time, they won't be so lucky. I refuse to let them off forever. Next time, I will fight all three of them if that's what it takes to get my revenge." Yugi said.

Yugi paced the meadow. He was obviously angry.

"I won't let anything stop me from getting what, and that is revenge." Yugi said.

**That's right, master. Revenge is the answer. The Pharaoh has hurt you in ways no one can understand. We will help you get your revenge.**

"Good. Yami won't know what hit him. He'll die by the power of his own magic. He'll know what true pain is." Yugi said. His eyes clouded over in pain. "He'll know pain, but he could never understand the pain I am in." Yugi said.

**That is why he must pay. He must not be allowed to get away with what he has done.**

"He won't." Yugi hissed.

* * *

"WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? DO YOU PEOPLE HAVE A DEATH WISH?" Atemu shouted.

Everyone in the room winced at the volume Atemu's voice had taken.

'I'm glad I told the people who work in the mansion not to work for a while.' Seto thought.

"HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID? DID WHAT HAPPEN YESTERDAY TEACH YOU NOTHING?" Atemu raged.

"Look. We didn't want to remain here, scared to death. We just want to get back to normal." Joey said.

"Normal? If you pull shit like that anymore, you're going to end up dead!" Bakura spat.

"If we hadn't shown up, Yami would have already been in the afterlife, and the rest of you would have been following! You were lucky we sensed what happened and got there in time!" Marik growled.

"You don't get it! You're not the ones he's after!" Tea said.

Atemu growled. "We are now! He's going to be fighting us now because _we _have to protect _you _from him!" Atemu growled.

"No one asked you to!" Tristan retorted.

"And if we hadn't, all of you would be dead. Would you prefer that?" Ryou demanded.

No one answered.

"Whether or not you like it, we are the only ones who can protect so if you don't do what we say, you're going to die!" Bakura snapped.

Not one of them liked that thought.

Yami was rubbing his wrist. Ryou had healed him, but his wrist still tingled.

"What's Yugi's deal, anyway?" Joey asked.

Atemu's eyes narrowed. "I already told you that I won't tell unless you answer those questions I asked. Do any of you have an answer?" Atemu asked.

The silence spoke volumes.

"I thought so." Atemu said.

"Look. I don't know what happened, but this is ridiculous. Whatever happened to Yugi is obviously something that he deserved!" Joey said.

That was the WRONG thing to say.

"Is that so?" Atemu asked in a VERY dangerous voice.

The mere tone had Joey backing up.

"Wheeler, if someone said you deserved what was happening to you when you were living with your father and it was the beating that no one knew about, how would you have felt?" Atemu asked.

"That's just low, Atemu!" Seto snarled.

"How could you?" Serenity exclaimed.

"I didn't deserve it! No one knew!" Joey exclaimed.

"I KNOW THAT! IT'S THE POINT!" Atemu yelled.

"You're saying that Yugi deserved what happened when you don't even have the first clue as to what it is!" Malik snapped.

"You don't know what it is, so for all you know, you could be saying he deserved the worst thing in the world!" Ryou added.

No one understood.

"Listen, Wheeler. You don't know what Yugi's been through, so don't even try that. Don't say he deserves what happened when you don't know what happened." Atemu said dangerously.

Joey, realizing he didn't know, nodded. He knew that he wouldn't have wanted people to say that about him, so he knew that he had no right to say that about others.

"Now, if you people **ever **do something as stupid as what you did today, I swear that Yugi will be the least of your worries. I will send you all to the Shadow Realm and keep you there until this is over if that is what it takes! You are going to listen to us and do as we say until this all over! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" Atemu shouted.

Thoroughly chastised, everyone nodded.

"Good." Atemu growled. He turned and stormed out.

"Well, done. You managed to piss of the person who wants to protect you. We're doing it under protest." Bakura said before he left.

Marik started to leave, but stopped. "Wheeler, you ever make a remark like that again, and I swear that I will kill you." Marik said before leaving.

The others sat there in silence.

Ryou sighed.

"They're going to be hard to live with today, aren't they?" Malik asked.

Ryou nodded.

"What got up Atemu's ass?" Tristan asked.

Malik raised an eyebrow. "You do what we told you not to do, went out and sought Yugi out, nearly got yourselves killed, and you want to know why Atemu was so pissed?" Malik asked, thinking that Tristan was a complete idiot.

"Not that!" Tristan said.

Ryou sighed. "Joey, that remark was uncalled for. You don't know what all lead up to this, so you don't have a right to judge. Many people saw the bruises and said that you deserved them for getting into fights all the time, not knowing that the majority of them came from your father. You do remember how that felt, right?" Ryou asked.

The way Ryou said it wasn't meant to hurt. It was meant to make them think.

"Yeah. I remember. It really hurt." Joey said, remembering those feelings.

"That's what Atemu wants you to realize. He wants you to realize that you shouldn't say a person deserves something based on this. You know nothing about the real situation, so it's better that you say nothing." Ryou said.

"So, we just take this?" Tristan asked, not liking this one bit.

"Well, you could always ignore us and get killed." Malik said.

Tristan glared at him, and Malik glared right back.

"Until you can give Atemu an answer to the questions he asked, you'll have to live with knowing that Yugi has murder in mind for you all, especially you, Yami, and you not know why. Answer Atemu's questions, and you will get your answer." Ryou said softly.

It was clear that Ryou was loyal to Atemu in not telling them, but they could also tell that Ryou wasn't being cruel to them.

"We get it, Ryou." Yami said.

"Good. Don't make this mistake again." Ryou said before he and Malik left.

"Now what?" Seto asked.

"We try and give Atemu the answer he wants." Yami said.

* * *

Atemu was angrily pacing the floor. "Of all the lowdown things to say, Wheeler had to say _that_!" Atemu growled.

"I know. He had no right." Marik agreed.

"I would have loved to of punched him then and there!" Bakura growled.

"If he keeps that up, I swear that I'll throw him to Yugi without remorse." Atemu said.

"He won't." Ryou said.

The three looked to se Ryou and Malik.

"They get why he shouldn't say that." Ryou said. He sighed. "Though I think Tristan will be problem." Ryou said.

"I'd love to tell him the truth." Bakura said.

"No. We wait. I want to see if they realize part of the problem." Atemu said.

"If they do?" Malik asked.

"I'll tell them the truth." Atemu said. He then walked over to the window and looked out. "I will tell them ever detail of the truth. Every shred of it. I won't leave anything out, and then they'll understand Yugi's side." Atemu said. He sighed. "I'll just hope I can keep myself from strangling my brother." Atemu said. The mere thought of the truth made him want to kill Yami.

The others were silent, knowing how hard it would be for Atemu and for them.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Note 1: I decided to make Seto and Joey Yami and Hikari as well for this one. They could be, anyway.

Note 2: I wasn't beung cruel with what was said to Joey. It was just to make them think that they needed to watch what they say.

Next: Atemu and the others confront Yugi in hopes of ending this.

R&R.


	4. Enemies

Here's the next chapter.

I decided to update this one early since I have written ahead a little.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4- Enemies

The rest of the week had been without incident.

Having learned their lesson, everyone at the Kaiba mansion had remained there, knowing that leaving had to be the stupidest thing that they could have ever done.

Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Ryou, and Malik were all staying at the Game Shop, staying on guard in case Yugi made an appearance, which he never did.

The five were also trying to figure how to explain the whole truth to the others, if they told them.

Yugi had not shown up in all that time. He hadn't tried anything. He hadn't appeared to anyone. There had been no word from Yugi at all.

It couldn't last forever, though.

* * *

"I know that Yugi hasn't shown up yet. Do you think he gave up?" Joey asked.

"Maybe." Tristan said.

"No. Yugi knows that he can't get to us inside the mansion. He probably has figured out that we're not giving him the chance to anything." Yami said.

"So, what do we do in the meantime?" Tristan asked.

"We do what Atemu says." Yami said.

"Why if Yugi's not pulling anything now?" Tea asked.

"Because if we're caught outside the mansion, we're all dead." Yami said.

"Come on. What's the harm in trying?" Mokuba asked.

"Trust me. None of you want to face a fully enraged Atemu. I have never been on the receiving end of that kind of anger, but I have seen others who have been." Yami said.

"What happened?" Joey asked.

"Besides the fact that Atemu nearly lost complete control of himself and killed the guy? A whole lot of yelling. I was literally hiding behind the throne, and everyone else was backing away." Yami said.

"Hold it. This happened when you were Pharaoh?" Seto asked.

Yami nodded.

"That must have been pretty scary then." Tea said.

"It was. I never want to see Atemu that angry, and I definitely don't want that anger unleashed on me. He's angry enough with me as it is." Yami said.

"I still wish they'd tell us what is going on." Tristan said.

"I don't know what is going on, but it must be pretty bad." Yami said.

Deciding not to take a chance, the group had Seto use his own Shadow magic to teleport them to the mansion.

* * *

"At least they haven't done anything stupid, yet." Ryou said.

"Give them time." Bakura said.

"Meaning?" Malik asked.

"Meaning that they are going to do something stupid." Bakura said.

"As long as they stay in the mansion, I don't give a damn what they do." Atemu said.

The five were back in the Game Shop.

"So, we have three weeks to focus solely on this. What do we do?" Bakura asked.

"I don't know. The first thing we need to do is find Yugi." Atemu said.

"That's going to be hard. We haven't even sensed the Shadow magic now." Ryou said.

"He won't stay quiet for long." Atemu said.

"Do you think he'll come after us?" Marik asked.

"He might. I don't think he sees us as friends or enemies. He sees us as an obstacle that he has to overcome to get to Yami." Atemu said.

"Why not let him have Yami?" Bakura asked.

"Bakura!" Atemu growled.

"Look. I know that he's your brother and that the sweet, innocent Yugi would want us to protect him, but the guy has done nothing to deserve saving. Maybe he was a good Pharaoh, but now, he isn't. Now with what he has caused. I'm sorry, but we have to look at all the damage that hasbeen caused because of his reckless arrogance and ignorance." Bakura said.

"Sorry, Atemu, but I have to agree with Bakura on that one. Yami brought all this on himself." Marik said.

Atemu sighed. "I know he did." Atemu said.

"So, why are we protecting them?" Bakura asked.

"Because it's what Yugi would want." Atemu said, getting up.

"Atemu." Ryou said quietly.

Atemu ran a hand through his hair. "Look. I'm not happy with Yami, either. I'm borderline hate." Atemu said. At their surprised expressions, he continued. "Yes, I am close to hating my own brother." Atemu said. He was quiet. "No. I do hate him. I hate what he has done. What is done is low and despicable. There is no excuse for it, and if he tries to excuse it, then he is truly selfish. I can't stand him. I want to wrap my hands around his throat and strangle him. Better yet, let Yugi do it himself. It would be perfect to let Yugi get the revenge he so desperately wants." Atemu said.

Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik were shocked at this.

Atemu sighed. "But I can't let that happen. Yugi would want this. I am doing this solely for Yugi's sake. Yugi needs him alive. Light cannot live without darkness. Hikari cannot live without Yami. Yugi cannot live with Yami. No matter how you look at it, Yugi needs him alive. That's why I protect him. For Yugi. No other reason. I want to kill Yami, but I'm not going to." Atemu said.

"Wow. I didn't know you felt like that." Bakura said.

Atemu sighed. "After all these months, especially the last five, those feelings have increased. I hate that I feel that way, but with what has happened, I can't help it. My parents would probably be disappointed in me for feeling this way, but with what I have seen and had to deal with, I have no choice, but to feel that way." Atemu said.

"I don't think they would blame you." Ryou said.

"I don't know, but I can't care right now." Atemu said.

"We get that." Bakura said.

"Maybe we should try and find Yugi the old fashioned way." Marik said.

"Search." Malik said.

Marik nodded.

"What do we have to lose?" Atemu asked.

"How do we find him?" Malik asked.

"Just look around. If you see him, get in touch with the rest of us. Don't try to talk to him alone." Atemu said.

The group agreed before they headed out.

* * *

Yugi stood on the tower, overlooking the city.

'I can't attack those people in school, and I can't get to them in the shield.' Yugi thought.

Yugi gripped his fist tightly.

'I have it find a way to get in that place! I have to find a way to get to them! I have to get my revenge!' Yugi thought angrily.

Shadow magic started to swirl at Yugi's hands.

**Yes, master. Revenge is all that you need. We will find a way to help you get in and kill them all. The Pharaoh needs to learn his lesson. He needs to know that he is the one in the wrong. He needs to see what he ahs done.**

Yugi only grew angrier.

'I won't let Yami get away with this. I won't let him live happy and healthy while I'm suffering like this. He doesn't deserve it.' Yugi thought.

* * *

Yami was in his room in the Kaiba mansion. He was sitting on the bed with a picture in his hands.

The picture was one of him and Yugi. It was taken shortly after Yami had gained his own body. Yami had an arm around Yugi's shoulder, and they were both smiling.

'Things were so easy then. We were fine. We were just the way it needed to be. Yami and Hikari.' Yami thought.

Yami set the picture down, stood up, and walked to the window.

'What is it, Yugi? What am I missing? What happened to make you so angry at me? Why did Atemu ask me those questions?' Yami asked himself.

Yami had been extremely surprised and confused by the questions Atemu asked. He had gone over them, but he couldn't figure out why Atemu asked them. Yugi was his Hikari, so he was always there for Yugi.

What Yami didn't do was bother to think back over that time period to try and figure that out.

* * *

Bakura and Ryou were walking trough the streets down from the Game Shop.

"There has to be a way to find Yugi. We need to try and reason with him." Ryou said.

"Reasoning with him won't be easy. He's under the influence of Shadow magic and it won't be easy to convince him to listen to us." Bakura said.

Ryou looked over at him, "Do you really think that it will be that hard?" Ryou asked.

"It'll be more than that hard." Bakura answered.

The two took a shortcut through the park that was nearby. They walked on down.

Suddenly, Bakura stopped.

Ryou noticed and stopped as well. "Kura?" Ryou asked.

Bakura was starring at a bunch of bushes. His hands clenched tightly into fists. 'Damn it!' Bakura growled.

Ryou walked over to him and laid a hand on Bakura's shoulder. "Kura." Ryou said.

Bakura looked over at his Hikari. "Sorry. I just got upset again." Bakura said.

Ryou nodded. "I understand, Bakura, but we need to keep looking for Yugi. Even if reasoning with him will be hard, we have to try. We can't just give up on Yugi." Ryou said.

"We won't. I just don't want you to think that it will be easy to save Yugi." Bakura said.

Ryou nodded. "I understand, Bakura." Ryou assured him.

* * *

Marik and Malik were also searching for him.

"Damn. We have to find Yugi before he does something else." Marik said.

"What do you think he'll do?" Malik asked.

"I don't know. I don't want to think the worst of Yugi, but I don't have a choice at the moment. Yugi is under the influence of Shadow magic, so there's no way to know what he might do." Marik answered.

Malik sighed. "We should have seen something like this coming. We should have known that something bad might happen." Malik said.

"We couldn't have seen this one coming, Malik. I know that." Marik said.

Malik looked over at Marik. "You think?" Malik asked.

Marik nodded. "We don't know how this happened, so we couldn't have seen it coming. Honestly, this is not something that I think we would have anticipated." Marik said.

"Still, if we find Yugi, maybe we can reason with him." Malik said.

"Malik, I will tell you this. Reasoning with Yugi won't be easy. He may not even listen to us." Marik said.

"Why not? Yugi has always been sensible." Malik said.

"I know that, but while under the influence of Shadow magic, Yugi isn't going to act like himself." Marik said.

"Well, we have to try." Malik said.

"I know." Marik said.

* * *

Atemu was also looking for Yugi.

'Come on, Yugi. Where are you? I know that you are here.' Atemu thought.

Atemu was very worried. He hadn't seen or heard from Yugi in almost four days, so he was worried. He wanted to make sure that Yugi was okay.

'Yugi may be out of control and trying to kill Yami and the others, but I am still worried about him. There's no way to know what may have happened to him.' Atemu thought.

Atemu kept on looking.

Then, Atemu sensed something. He looked up and was surprised to see that Yugi was standing on top of a tower.

'No wonder we haven't found him. We've been looking on the ground.' Atemu thought.

Atemu started to head up, but remembered what he had said to the others.

'I better let them know first.' Atemu thought.

* * *

The moment the others heard from Atemu, they headed over for where Atemu was.

Atemu had kept on eye on the tower and saw that Yugi never once left.

"Atemu!" Bakura said as he and Ryou ran up.

A moment later, Marik and Malik also joined them.

"Glad you guys got here fast." Atemu said.

"I thought you said you found him." Marik said.

"I did." Atemu said.

"Where? I don't' see him." Bakura said, looking around.

"That's because you're looking in the wrong direction." Atemu said, looking up.

The other four followed his gaze and were surprised to see that Yugi was standing on top of the tower far above them.

"Damn. That's a good place to hide." Bakura said.

"Come on. We have to talk to him." Malik said.

All five headed up with Atemu in the lead.

* * *

Yugi did nothing, but stand there. He was trying to figure out a way to draw Yami out.

'I have to get him. I have to kill him.' Yugi thought.

"Yugi."

Hearing his name, Yugi turned and wasn't too surprised to find Atemu, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.

The lack of emotion in his voice worried Atemu and the others.

"Yugi, we didn't come here to fight you. We just came to talk." Atemu said.

"Then talk." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I get why you are doing this. I know that you are angry and upset." Atemu said.

"Stop stating the obvious." Yugi snapped.

"Yugi, we understand your reasons behind this, but this isn't the way. Killing Yami and the others won't change anything that happened." Ryou said.

"It will give me a sense of satisfaction. It will give me the satisfaction of knowing that Yami doesn't live happily." Yugi said.

"Yugi, look. I get what you're going through. I get it, but resorting to this doesn't help. Believe me. I know. I spent years being angry over something that happened years ago. Holding onto anger only makes you bitter. You know that. I sought to kill Yami myself, but I realized that it wasn't worth it." Bakura said.

"You gave up your anger. That doesn't mean I have to give up mine." Yugi said.

"Yugi, please. Yami and the others don't deserve this." Atemu said.

"Don't deserve this?" Yugi shouted, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Have you forgotten what those miscreants did to me? Have you forgotten everything?" Yugi snapped.

"Yugi, I am not saying that they were right, but anger only brings more anger. Violence only brings about more violence. You taught me that." Atemu said.

"Well, I was wrong. I never knew the truth." Yugi said.

"Yugi, this won't solve anything." Atemu said.

"Yes, it will. They are all living happy lives as if nothing bad ever happens! They act like there is nothing wrong! They are happy while I'm sufferings. They are smiling every day while I spend every day crying. They have peaceful dreams while I have terrible nightmares! Nightmares that will never end!" Yugi shouted as tears fell.

"Yugi, I understand, but the fact is that they don't know anything." Atemu said.

"And whose fault it that? They are the ignorant bastards who don't care about anyone but themselves!" Yugi growled.

"Yugi, look! We don't want this to continue. Just come back with us, and we'll figure this out." Malik said.

"No. I have the power to make him pay now, and I am going to make sure that he does. I won't let him get away with what he's done." Yugi said angrily.

"Yugi, revenge will not help." Marik said.

"It will help me." Yugi said.

Shadow magic started to smirk at Yugi's hand for the second time that day. "If you persist in protecting them, then I have no choice except to see you as enemies." Yugi said. He formed a sword out of the Shadow magic. "If that happens, I will come after you as I go after them." Yugi said.

Atemu, Bakura, and Marik had feared that this would be the outcome. They had hoped for a different one.

"Yugi, I-we can't let you do that. We can't let you kill in cold blood." Atemu said.

"Why? You have." Yugi said.

"Yes. I have, but I was wrong, Yugi. Besides, this isn't what you really want. Deep down, you know that." Atemu said.

"No, Atemu, I don't. This is what I want, and I won't let you stop me." Yugi said.

Atemu grimaced. "Then, you leave me with no choice." Atemu said. He formed a sword of his own.

"So be it." Yugi said.

Bakura and Marik knew that it was over, so they formed swords of their own and got ready to fight.

Yugi's eyes turned dark. He flicked his wrist and sent all five backwards.

Atemu managed to use his own Shadow magic to lighten the impact before he went at Yugi.

Yugi used his sword to block Atemu's sword. "I thought you hated your brother for what he has done." Yugi spat.

"I do." Atemu said as he struggled with Yugi.

"Then why save his insignificant life?" Yugi asked.

"Because I have to." Atemu said.

Yugi's Shadow magic then threw Atemu backwards.

Marik and Bakura got up, going at Yugi.

Yugi ducked and kicked Bakura in the stomach before he turned and blocked Marik's sword. He then forced Marik's sword up before he sent a blast of Shadow magic into Marik's chest.

Marik's Shadow magic lightened the blow, but it still hurt.

"Yugi, please! Stop this senseless violence!" Ryou pleaded.

"Senseless violence?" Yugi growled. "You don't know the meaning of it! I do!" Yugi yelled.

Each of them knew what Yugi was talking about, and it killed them that they knew the truth.

"Ryou, there's no choice." Malik said.

"Right." Ryou said.

White light formed at Ryou and Malik's hand, and a pair of Sais appeared in their hands.

Yugi then attacked them.

Malik blocked Yugi's sword before he forced him back and tried to strike Yugi, but Yugi easy blocked the Sai with his sword and kicked Malik in the stomach. Ryou went at Yugi, but Yugi easily moved out of the side, grabbed Ryou by the arm, and flipped Ryou onto his back.

"Ryou!" Bakura shouted. He jumped up and charged at Yugi.

Yugi ducked and rammed his elbow into Bakura's chest, knocking the wind out of Bakura before he used his Shadow magic to blast Bakura in the chest.

Bakura fell backwards onto the ground.

Malik and Marik both tried to attack Yugi.

Yugi turned and his eyes seemed to be alight with Shadow magic. Blasts of Shadow magic went from each of his hands.

Marik and Malik were both thrown down.

Malik groaned and got up. He formed white magic in his hand and threw it at Yugi.

Yugi moved out of the way, and the attack hit the tower. Yugi then sent another attack at Malik, which made contact.

Marik attacked Yugi, but Yugi jumped up and flipped in the air before he came down and kicked Marik in the chest, throwing Marik backwards and into the ground.

Atemu tried to move at Yugi, but Yugi turned and sent a blast at Atemu, sending Atemu crashing into the ground.

Despite being outnumbered, Yugi had taken them all down.

'Damn! Out of control Shadow magic is stronger than controlled Shadow magic! I forgot that!' Atemu thought derisively.

Yugi walked over and stepped down on Atemu's chest.

Atemu winced at the pain. "Yugi, please!" Atemu started.

"Enough!" Yugi said in a hissed, hushed whisper.

Atemu looked up and saw almost nothing, but darkness in Yugi's eyes. What light remained within Yugi was so hidden that it was near impossible to see the real Yugi. In fact, Atemu could not see that light.

Any light that had once made up who Yugi was, was near extinct.

'Yugi has no hope left. He has no light in his soul left. He has doesn't have the strength to fight the darkness that has take control of his heart.' Atemu thought.

"I thought that I could trust you." Yugi said.

"You can." Atemu said.

"No. Not anymore. You choose to protect Yami, and that makes you my enemy. I will go through you if I have to." Yugi said.

"You will." Atemu said.

Yugi growled. "That was a mistake, Atemu." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I am doing what I feel is right." Atemu said.

"Turning on me is right?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, I have supported you through all this, but I can't support you doing this! Killing Yami is not the answer! I know he is to blame for a great deal of the pain that you are in, but killing him will change nothing!" Atemu said.

"It will change everything! I cannot be happy now, so he shouldn't either!" Yugi spat.

"Yugi." Atemu said. He knew it was over. He knew that they had to stop Yugi at all costs now.

"You can all go this time, but next time, it is over. I'm coming after you, Atemu, and I won't stop next time." Yugi said.

Yugi then vanished in purple smoke.

Atemu leaned back and groaned. 'Now it really is over. We have to stop Yugi at all costs.' Atemu thought. He sat up and covered his eyes. 'Damn you, Yami! This is your fault!' Atemu thought angrily.

"Atemu, you okay?"

Atemu looked over to see Marik helping Malik while Ryou was helping Bakura. "I'll be fine." Atemu said as he got up.

"So, it's official. Yugi really is the enemy." Marik said.

"Yeah. We're on his hit list now." Atemu said.

"We knew this could happen." Bakura said.

"I know. Yugi doesn't have the strength to fight anymore. He's been fighting at the darkness that started to cloud his heart for nearly five months now. We didn't see the struggle he was having." Atemu said.

"Without Yami, it was bound to happen." Ryou said.

"Okay. We know that Yami is at fault here, so why don't we just shout the truth in the bastard's face and make him face up to his failures." Bakura said.

"No. I want to see if he comes across some of them on his own." Atemu said.

"This may drag out that way." Marik said.

"Then so be it. Yami deserves to suffer some, and knowing his Hikari hates him and not knowing why will be the worst way to make Yami suffer." Atemu said, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Man. You really do hate Yami." Bakura said.

"Right now, I do." Atemu admitted.

"Come on. Let's get back to the shop." Ryou said.

The group started back.

"So, how do we stop Yugi?" Bakura asked.

"We've been holding back. We stop holding back' Atemu said.

"All out." Bakura said.

"It's survival. If we fight as hard as we can, we have a chance to live." Atemu said.

* * *

Yugi stood in the meadow.

"So, Atemu and the others decided that they would prefer to my enemies." Yugi said.

The thought hurt, and Yugi sank down.

"I don't want to fight them. Atemu has been my stronghold for too long." Yugi said as tears fell.

Yugi's eyes lightened and started to turn back amethyst.

**No! He has chosen the Pharaoh over you! His true loyalty lies with his brother! Atemu would have never been completely loyal to you!**

"He wouldn't?" Yugi asked.

**No! His brother will always mean more! Atemu has to be loyal to his brother! They are family. They are all your enemy now! There is no one you can trust save us!**

Yugi's eyes turned back dark.

"Atemu will pay just as they will. I will have my revenge." Yugi said, standing up.

Yugi was determined to get back at them all.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yugi attacks Yami and the others again.

R&R.


	5. More Powerful

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5- More Powerful

Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Malik, and Ryou had no clue what to do now.

"So, since we're Yugi's enemies now, too, what do we do?" Ryou asked.

"I don't know. I've been trying to figure that one out." Atemu said.

"Listen, Atemu. I know that you wanted Yami and the others to realize how they have treated Yugi recently, but I think they need to know the truth." Malik said.

"Malik, after the hell that Yugi has been through the last nine months, hell they haven't given a damn about, there's no way I'm handing it over to them on a silver platter!" Atemu snapped.

"Atemu, I get that, but you have to see this from their viewpoint. They see Yugi as a crazy psychopath now. The truth is that he's not, but they need the truth to understand what they have done." Malik said.

Atemu sighed. "I know, Malik. I know that, but I'm just so angry at them right now. I want them to suffer!" Atemu snapped.

"Honestly, I think that they would suffer if they know the truth." Bakura said.

"Yami, at least." Marik said.

Atemu knew they were right.

"This has more to do with Yugi than any of them, doesn't it?" Ryou asked softly.

Atemu stood up and looked out the window. "I swore to Yugi that I would not tell anyone what happened. I don't want to break my promise, but at the same time, I know that they need to know everything that happened." Atemu said.

"Well, at the very least, I think that we should go and check on them." Bakura said.

"Probably." Atemu agreed.

* * *

Seto was sitting in his office in his house. 'Damn it! I can't do anything because of Yugi!' Seto thought angrily.

The phone rang.

Seto picked it up. "Seto Kaiba." Seto said.

"_Mr. Kaiba, this is Simon Schwartz. I have the information you wanted._" the man said.

"Send it over." Seto said before he hung up. 'Finally. I'll get some answers.' Seto thought.

* * *

Yami and the others were sitting around talking.

"I hate this! We can't go anywhere because Yugi went psycho on us!" Joey growled.

"Yeah! I say just kill him and get it over with!" Tristan agreed.

"Tristan!" Tea gasped.

"What? He's gone nuts and has said he plans to kill us!" Tristan retorted.

"Wishing death on him won't solve anything." Serenity said.

"Maybe, but I am pissed." Tristan said.

Mokuba looked over at Yami. "Yami, why are you being so quiet now?" Mokuba asked.

Yami sighed. "I've been thinking about what Atemu said. I can't see what he means." Yami said.

"Maybe he's just being an ass." Tristan said.

"Tristan, I know my brother. He's not like that. Atemu had a reason for what he said. I just wish I knew what that was." Yami said, rubbing his forehead.

"What do you think it means?" Joey asked.

"I don't have a clue." Yami said.

* * *

Yugi stood on a building that faced the Kaiba mansion. There was an evil smirk on his face.

"Soon, I will have my revenge. Atemu thought that this shield could keep me out. It will take a lot more than this to keep me from my prey." Yugi said.

Shadow magic started to swirl at Yugi's fingertips.

"Now, I believe that it is time to get my revenge." Yugi said.

**Yes, master. Revenge is all that matters. Make them make. Make the Pharaoh pay! Make them all pay! **

"Now, I believe that it is time for me to act." Yugi said.

* * *

Seto had walked back downstairs.

"Seto, do you think we can leave? I'm getting cabin fever." Joey said.

"Unless you want to die, no." Seto said.

"Come on. There has to be something that we can do." Tristan said.

A sudden loud explosion rocked the mansion.

Everyone inside was thrown down.

"What the hell was that?" Mokuba exclaimed.

"I don't know." Seto said.

The group jumped to their feet and raced outside only to see that the gates that surrounded the mansion had collapsed.

"What happened?" Tea asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

The entire group turned and found Yugi on the inside of the shield.

"How is he here?" Tristan exclaimed.

"He wasn't supposed to be able to get past the shield!" Joey added.

Yugi laughed an evil laugh. "You have to be kidding me. That shield was a joke. There's no way that that shield could keep me out for good." Yugi said.

Seto stood in front of them. "All right, Yugi. I've had it." Seto said. He formed a sword with his Shadow magic.

Yugi let out a derisive laugh. "If you think that you can stop me, then you're sadly mistaken. I'll give you the chance to try, though." Yugi said. He formed his own sword.

"Seto, don't." Yami said.

"Don't try to stop me, Yami!" Seto retorted.

"Seto, you can't beat Yugi." Yami said.

"Watch me!" Seto growled before charging forward.

"Maybe Seto will do what the others can't." Tristan spat.

"Yeah." Joey agreed.

Seto brought his sword down at Yugi only to hit the ground. "What the-" Seto looked around.

"Looking for me."

Seto looked up and barely had time to block Yugi's attack with his sword.

Yugi had come down at him from the air.

Seto was surprised at the strength Yugi had.

"I'm not the same weak, punching bag that I was before, Kaiba. I won't be so easily defeated." Yugi said with a smirk. He brought his foot up and kicked Seto in the stomach, causing Seto to stumble backwards. Yugi turned and slammed his foot into Seto's chest, knocking Seto down.

Seto coughed. "What happened to you?" Seto asked, getting up.

"I got stronger. I grew up. I learned what has to be done to survive in a cold world like this." Yugi said. His smirk widened. "And I learned the fine art of revenge." Yugi said.

"Revenge for what?" Seto asked.

"Everything you bastards did to me." Yugi said.

Seto didn't have time to answer.

Yugi formed a ball of Shadow magic in his hand that he tossed at Seto, hitting Seto in the chest.

Seto flew backwards and crashed into one of the trees.

"Big brother!" Mokuba shouted.

"That's it!" Joey said. White magic surrounded his hands before a pair of Sais appeared. He then charged at Yugi.

Yugi jumped up in the air to avoid the Sais' blades and flipped in the air, landing on a stump. "You'll have to do a lot better than that if you expect to take me down, Wheeler." Yugi said.

Joey was stunned. 'How did he do that?' Joey asked himself. He ignored it and charged again.

This time, Yugi blocked the Sais with his sword. He forced the Sais up before he rammed his fist into Joey's face, sending him stumbling backwards.

Joey formed a ball of white magic in his hand before he threw it at Yugi.

Yugi held up a hand, and a wave of Shadow magic shot forward. It destroyed Joey's attack and hit Joey, slamming him back into the walls of the mansion.

"Joey!" Serenity cried.

"This is far too easy." Yugi said.

"Damn! I'll stop him!" Tristan said.

Yami grabbed Tristan by the arm and forced him back, "No, Tristan!" Yami barked.

Tristan turned to him. "Look, Yami! You may be worried about your precious Hikari's safety, but I'm worried about ours! You may be too afraid to stop him, but I'm not!" Tristan said.

Yami grabbed Tristan and slammed him against the wall. "Look at Seto and Joey, you idiot! Take a good look!" Yami screamed at the stunned Tristan. "They have magic. Seto has Shadow magic, and Joey has Light magic! Yugi took them both down without breaking a sweat! You have no magic! Yugi could kill you in a split second!" Yami snapped.

"So true."

Yami, Tristan, Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba all looked at where Yugi was.

The smirk was still in place. "You can try and fight me, Tristan. You'll just make my job easier." Yugi said.

"Why you-" Tristan started.

"Of course, I would always go after your whore first." Yugi said his gaze on Tea.

Tea gasped at what she had been called.

"Don't you call my girlfriend that!" Tristan shouted.

"Why? She dated Yami for like a week before going on to another guy. Not exactly pure." Yugi said.

"How dare you!" Tristan seethed.

Yami started to question if this was his Hikari. He had never heard Yugi talk in such a way.

Yugi's smirk remained. He then threw out his hand and sent a wave of Shadow magic at them.

The attack hit them all, and they were thrown down.

Serenity and Mokuba were knocked unconscious.

Tristan and Tea both groaned in pain.

Yami lay on his stomach, moaning from the pain.

Yugi walked forward, grabbed Yami the shirt and then forced him up before he punched Yami hard in the gut.

Yami doubled over in pain.

"You are pathetic. You once could have fought, but you are obviously nothing without your magic." Yugi said.

Yami looked up at Yugi with pain-filled eyes. "Why, Yugi? Why are you doing this?" Yami asked.

"I already told you. For revenge." Yugi said. He then kicked Yami in the face, throwing Yami back into a tree. "I will make you pay for everything that you did to me." Yugi said.

Yami started. "What did I do?" Yami asked.

"Everything." Yugi answered. Anger and hatred filled his eyes.

Yami was scared and heartbroken that such emotions filled his innocent Hikari. It hurt even more that those emotions were directed at him.

Yugi reached down and grabbed Yami by the throat, lifting him up.

Yami grasped at Yugi's wrist, trying in vain to free himself. "I will make you suffer every bit of pain I have. I will make you hurt like I have hurt. I will make you understand what kind of pain and suffering you caused me, you bastard!" Yugi hissed.

"Y-Yugi, I-I-" Yami struggled, gasping for air.

"You are going to pay." Yugi growled. He then threw Yami across the yard.

Yami crashed into the ground. He was coughing and gasping for air. 'What is going on? Why is Yugi so angry? What did I do?' Yami asked himself.

Yugi walked forward. "I'm going to make sure you suffer, Yami. You'll be begging to be sealed in the Millennium Puzzle again when I'm done with you." Yugi said. He then smirked. "Of course, it's what you deserve. You deserve to be trapped in that darkness. You deserve that. You don't deserve the freedom you have now." Yugi said.

Yami heart clenched in fear at the thought. He had hated his time of imprisonment. It still scared him. Yugi's light had helped him get over that fear. Now, he feared it again.

But what he feared the most was the fact that Yugi thought he deserved it.

Yugi stepped down hard on Yami's chest, causing Yami to cry out in pain. "I wish that I had never met you. I wish I had never gotten that damned puzzle. I wish I had never freed you." Yugi said.

The words were meant to hurt, and hurt they did.

Yami felt tears come to his eyes. He didn't understand why his Hikari was like this. He didn't understand why his Hikari hated him. He didn't understand why his Hikari was determined to hurt him, to make him suffer, to kill him. He didn't understand any of it.

And knowing that his Hikari wished that he had never met him hurt even worse.

Yugi smirked. 'It's time to end this.' Yugi thought.

**Yes, Master. Kill him. Kill him!**

"Yugi! Stop now!"

Yugi looked up and saw Atemu, Marik, Bakura, Ryou, and Malik in front of them.

Atemu, Bakura, and Marik had their swords ready while Ryou and Malik had their Sais ready.

"So, I guess you didn't learn from the last time." Yugi said.

"Yugi, back off! This isn't what you want! You don't want to kill him!" Ryou said.

"Oh, but I do." Yugi said. He looked at them. "I thought you knew I didn't care what you thought. I made that clear when you confronted me the other day." Yugi said.

'They confronted Yugi.' Yami thought.

"Yugi, we don't want to be your enemy. We don't want to fight you." Bakura said.

"You are my enemies. The moment you sided with them, you became the enemy." Yugi said.

Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Ryou, and Malik all grimaced at that.

'They endangered their lives for us. They destroyed their friendship with Yugi for us.' Yami thought.

"Fine. I guess we are truly enemies." Yugi said. He glanced down at Yami. "I'll deal with you later." Yugi said. He removed his foot from Yami's chest and turned his attention to the other five. "Let's dance." Yugi said.

Atemu tensed. "Malik. Ryou." Atemu said.

"We know. Hang back and protect them." Ryou said.

"Even if they don't deserve it." Malik muttered.

"Malik." Atemu growled.

"I know. Not the time." Malik said.

Malik and Ryou immediately backed off, planning to leave the fight to the Yamis.

The smirk never left Yugi's face.

"Atemu, this is going to be ugly." Bakura said.

"None of this has been pretty." Atemu replied.

"You didn't really think that this would go any other way, did you?" Yugi asked.

"We could always hope that you would act reasonably." Marik said.

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "This coming from you?" Yugi asked.

"I can dream." Marik said.

"It doesn't matter now." Yugi said.

"Yugi, we don't want things to go like this. We don't want to fight you." Atemu said.

"If it wasn't for your bastard brother, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." Yugi said.

Yami flinched at the words, still not understanding why Yugi was so angry at him.

"Yugi, please." Atemu said, his voice taking on a pleading tone.

"Save it. Nine and a half months I lived with this pain. I won't stand for it anymore!" Yugi said angrily. "It's over."

The next thing Bakura, Marik, and Atemu knew, Yugi was charging at them.

Atemu blocked Yugi's sword with his own, but Yugi quickly forced Atemu's sword up before he kicked Atemu in the stomach.

Bakura swung his sword at Yugi's back, but Yugi turned and blocked Bakura's sword. "A thief through and through, Bakura. Only you would attack someone from behind." Yugi said. He then slammed his knee into Bakura's stomach before he kicked Bakura backwards.

Marik charged at Yugi, but Yugi grabbed Marik by the wrist and easily flipped him in midair and slammed Marik down onto his back.

Atemu had recovered and went at Yugi.

Yugi turned and flicked his wrist, sending Atemu flying.

Atemu crashed into a stone object in the yard and went right through it, landing in a pile of rubble.

"Atemu!" Ryou and Malik shrieked.

Yami was stunned and horrified. He had just seen his brother get tossed like he was nothing, go through a stone object, and worst of all, not get up. 'Atemu, no!' Yami thought frantically.

Yugi smirked. "Well, I expected a bit more from him." Yugi said.

"Damn it, Yugi!"

Yugi turned to face Bakura. "What's the matter, Kura? Surprised? You know the extent of Shadow magic." Yugi said.

"Not even Yami had this much Shadow magic! It's far more Shadow magic than is normal even for a Yami!" Bakura spat.

Yugi started laughing. "Well, I'm not exactly normal, Bakura. Not anymore." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I never thought that you of all people would succumb to darkness." Bakura said.

"I'm not the same Hikari that you knew, Bakura. You know that that person died five months ago." Yugi said.

A flash of pain went through Bakura's eyes.

A pain that Yami saw.

"Yeah. Yugi. I know." Bakura said.

Yugi then charged at Bakura. Bakura blocked Yugi's sword and forced it up. He tried to punch Yugi, but Yugi ducked and rammed his fist into Bakura's stomach. He turned and kicked Bakura in the chest, throwing Bakura down.

Marik to up and went at Yugi again.

Yugi turned and jumped up, flipping over Marik and landing behind him.

Marik turned only to get hit by a ball of Shadow magic in the chest, throwing him down.

Ryou and Malik couldn't stand by and watch anymore. They charged at Yugi, their Sais in hand.

Yugi turned and threw out his hand.

A wave of Shadow magic hit them and tossed them back into the walls of the mansion. Ryou and Malik both sank down to the ground.

Yugi turned back toward Bakura.

"Damn it, Yugi! Ryou and Malik are Hikaris! Like you!" Bakura growled.

"The Hikari in me died that night." Yugi said coldly.

"For the first time, I'm starting to believe that that is true." Bakura said.

"You should believe it. Because it's the truth." Yugi said.

"Damn it, Yugi! This isn't who you are! You can't let what happen rule your life! If you do, then they win!" Bakura said.

"They already won!" Yugi shouted.

Bakura was stunned.

"They won that night! They took the only thing I had left that night, Bakura! Why didn't you just let me die?" Yugi cried in absolute agony.

Bakura was stunned to silence.

And he wasn't the only one.

Yami, Tea, and Tristan had all heard this as well.

'Yugi, what happened? Why did you almost die? Why did you want to die? What could be that terrible?' Yami asked himself.

"You don't mean that." Bakura said.

"Yes, I do, Bakura. You and Marik should have let me die. Everyone would have had what they wanted then!" Yugi said angrily.

"No, Yugi. We wouldn't have. Atemu, Ryou, Malik, Marik, and I have stuck by you through all this. It would have killed us if you had died. I wasn't going to let my friend die, damn it! Don't you get that! I care about you! I fucking care about you, and I wasn't about to let one of the few people that I will vocally admit is my friend die!" Bakura said.

Yugi was silent.

For a moment, Yami thought Bakura had reached him. 'Bakura cares about Yugi? He has Ryou. Why would he care that much about Yugi?' Yami asked himself. Deep down, Yami felt angry and jealous that Bakura knew more about his Hikari than he did. He was angry that Bakura cared this much about Yugi. 'What is going on? How have I missed this much?' Yami asked himself.

However, it was soon proven that Bakura hadn't reached Yugi.

"It no longer matters. Nothing matters now. All I want is revenge." Yugi said.

"Revenge is not the answer, Yugi. I learned that the hard way!" Bakura said.

"I don't care! That's what I want! I want revenge on every damn person who fucked up my life! Yami's at the top of that list!" Yugi snapped angrily.

"Yugi, stop this." Bakura said.

It surprised Yami that Bakura's tone was almost as pleading as Atemu's had been.

"**NO!**" Yugi shouted.

An incredibly powerful wave of Shadow magic was released, engulfing everyone in the attack.

When the power faded, everyone was unconscious.

Yugi was standing in the middle of the area, panting. He was exhausted from the amount of power he had unleashed.

Miraculously, the mansion was still standing.

No one else was.

Yugi looked around. He saw that there was no one to challenge him.

**Good, master. All the nuisances have been neutralized.**

"They're all down." Yugi said lowly.

**Now is your chance! Kill the Pharaoh! Take your revenge! Get rid of him now!**

Yugi formed a sword of Shadow magic once again and walked over to where Yami was laying unconscious.

Yami lay on his back.

Yugi raised the sword.

**That's right! Kill him! Kill him! KILL HIM!**

Yugi looked down at Yami, but all his memories of Yami returned in that moment.

The sword shook.

Ryou opened his eyes and groaned. He looked around and was shocked to see Yugi holding a sword above Yami. He gasped in horror. 'Oh no!' Ryou thought frantically.

Tears filled Yugi's eyes. "Why?' Yugi asked.

Yugi squeezed his eyes shut tightly and rammed the sword down into the ground, missing Yami by a long shot.

"WHY? WHY CAN'T I DO IT? WHY CAN'T I KILL HIM?" Yugi shouted as he collapsed to the ground.

Ryou was shocked by this. 'He can't do it.' Ryou thought. His eyes widened in realization. 'A part of the real Yugi sill exists. That part won't let him kill Yami.' Ryou thought.

Yugi was sobbing from the pain.

Ryou got up and limped over to Yugi. "Yugi." Ryou said gently.

Yugi jumped up and faced him.

"Yugi, it's okay." Ryou said softly.

"No, it's not! I want to kill him! I want my revenge! Why can't I do it?" Yugi shouted.

"Because you don't want him to die, Yugi." Ryou said.

"No! That is not it! Not after what he did to me! What he let happen to me!" Yugi shouted.

"Yugi, please don't fight this." Ryou said.

"I want him dead! He's done too much damage!" Yugi screamed.

"Then why can't you kill him?" Ryou demanded.

"I-I don't know." Yugi said.

"Yes. You do." Ryou said.

"No! I will kill him!" Yugi said before he vanished in purple smoke.

Ryou sighed. 'Yugi is so emotionally unbalanced. He doesn't know what to do or believe.' Ryou thought.

Ryou then looked around himself at all the people who were unconscious and injured.

'Yugi caused all this because of one simple mistake, but that mistake caused so much pain for Yugi. Pain that we cannot imagine.' Ryou thought.

Ryou turned and looked at Yami. He knelt down and felt for a pulse and found one. "Yami, you don't know the pain you have caused Yugi. You don't know the suffering you put him through by that one simple mistake. One mistake destroyed Yugi. And I will take so much to get him back." Ryou said.

There were tears in Ryou's eyes.

'This has to end. The secrets have to end. When he recovers, I will tell Atemu to tell them. They need to know the truth. They need to understand this.' Ryou thought.

Ryou stood up and looked into the sky. "Please. We need help. We need someone who can reach Yugi. Someone he still trusts with all his heart. Someone he will listen to." Ryou said.

Ryou didn't expect an answer, but he hoped that one came soon.

'I don't know what to do. Yugi is so far gone it would take a miracle to bring him back.' Ryou thought.

Ryou looked into the sky once more. "Please. Give us a way to being Yugi back." Ryou said.

Ryou knew that the secrets had to end, and he knew that no one would like the truth.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The aftermath of the battle.

R&R.


	6. Aftermath

Here's the next chapter.

My parents and I are going out of town to help my brother and his wife move into their new house, so I'll be gone this weekend. I'll be gone from Friday to Sunday. I'll update again either Sunday or Monday.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 6- Aftermath

Several of the others had woken up and were able to help get everyone into the mansion.

Everyone was hurt in some way, some worse than others.

"Damn. Talk about a beating." Joey said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I tried to get you two not to fight Yugi. I knew that you didn't stand a chance given the way Yugi has been acting." Yami said.

"I think that we'll listen next time." Joey said.

"And what? Let Yugi kill us?" Seto asked.

"Do you really want to go through this again?" Joey said.

"Neither way sounds appealing." Tristan remarked.

Atemu was laid out on one of the couches. He was still unconscious, the only one still unconscious, three hours after the battle ended.

"Ry, is he going to be okay?" Bakura asked.

Ryou was sitting on the floor by Atemu, rubbing a damp cloth over Atemu's face. "He should be. When I heal him anyway." Ryou said.

"So why haven't you?" Serenity asked.

"I'm magically exhausted right now. I should be able to heal within a few hours. Once I can, I'll heal him." Ryou said.

"I wish he'd wake up, though." Yami said.

Ryou looked over at him. "Yami, I think it's better that Atemu stay unconscious." Ryou said.

"Why?" Tea asked.

"Because Atemu took one hell of a hit. He'd be in unbearable pain if he were to wake up." Bakura said.

"Exactly. He's not in pain this way." Ryou said.

The group fell silent.

Bakura and Marik were sitting on another couch. Both were beat down and in need of Ryou's healing magic when he recovered as well.

Marik leaned back. "Well, that was an ass-kicking if there ever was one." Marik said.

"Not joke. We never even laid one hand on him." Bakura agreed.

"Another reason why he needs to be stopped." Tristan muttered.

Bakura glared at him.

Even injured, Bakura scared the shit out of Tristan.

"Taylor, we know what needs to be done! Stop being an ass!" Bakura snapped.

"Yugi's the one causing everything, not me!" Tristan snapped back.

"Maybe if you actually ever cared about him, we wouldn't even be in this situation." Malik retorted.

"How can you say we don't care?" Joy growled.

"Oh, yes. You have proven how much you care recently." Marik said sarcastically.

"Enough!" Ryou shouted.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Arguing over this won't change anything. Like it or not, we're stuck together. Yugi is after all of us now. We can't change that." Ryou said.

"Why is he after you now?" Mokuba asked.

"Because we sided with you people. He sees us as the enemy because we're protecting you." Bakura said.

Ryou sighed. 'I hope I recover fast. Things will be easier when Atemu agrees to tell them the truth.' Ryou thought.

"Why do you still care? He's gone psycho." Tristan said.

"In your opinion." Marik said.

Ryou rubbed his head. 'Someone kill me.' Ryou thought.

Something was bothering Yami. "Bakura." Yami said.

Bakura looked at him. "What?" Bakura asked.

"What did Yugi mean when he said you should have let him die?" Yami asked.

All eyes turned to Yami now.

"I heard Yugi tell you that you should have let him die. What happened?" Yami asked.

Bakura grew silent.

Ryou, Malik, and Marik looked at each other, wondering what to do.

"What happened? And why didn't I know about it?" Yami asked.

"You didn't know because you're an ignorant ass." Bakura said.

"Knock it off!" Tea said.

Bakura, despite his injured, jumped. "Stay the hell out of this! Not one of you know a damn thing about Yugi! You couldn't tell me one thing about him of late!" Bakura snapped.

"What are you talking about?" Yami asked, confused.

"Because you failed. You failed Yugi. As a Yami." Bakura said.

"What?" Yami exclaimed.

"Your one to talk after the way you treated Ryou." Seto snorted.

Bakura growled.

"ENOUGH!" Ryou shouted.

Everyone jumped at the volume his voice had taken.

"This arguing gets us no where! And unless you want the couch for the next year, shut the hell up, Bakura!" Ryou snapped.

Bakura backed down.

"How can he call Yami a failure?" Joey demanded.

Ryou looked at Atemu and then back to them. "Wait until Atemu recovers. I'll try to get him to tell you the truth about everything. If he won't budge, then I'll tell you. Regardless of what Atemu wants." Ryou said.

"Ry, we said we'd let Atemu handle this." Bakura said.

"I know, but the secrets have to end. They're only making things worse. For us and for Yugi." Ryou said.

"Why doesn't he want us to know?" Yami asked.

"Atemu will tell you if he wants to." Ryou said.

The group quiet, wondering what was so bad that Bakura thought Yami had failed Yugi as Yugi's Yami.

Tristan then said something. "I don't anything will change my mind about Yugi and what he called Tea." Tristan growled.

"What?" Marik asked.

"He called me a whore." Tea said.

"So what? Everyone at school does." Marik said.

"What?" Tea exclaimed.

"Tea, you dated Yami for like a week. Everyone assumed you slept together and broke up. You were dating another guy a week later. Everyone knows that." Malik said.

"They what?" Yami shouted.

"Is that not true?" Ryou asked.

"We never slept together! Yami and I only went on one date, and we realized that we wouldn't work out. I tried to move on. That's why I went out with other guys. When Tristan asked me out, I agreed." Tea said.

"Damn. Never knew that one." Bakura said.

"So, Yugi just assumed that it was true like we did." Ryou muttered.

"Why didn't you guys ask us about it?" Yami asked.

"One, Yugi's the only one that really cared. Two, it's not like you cared much about Yugi's feelings." Bakura said.

"How can you say that?" Yami growled.

"Gee. I don't know. You're supposed to be deeply in love with Yugi, and to prove it, you started dating Tea." Bakura said.

Everyone was stunned.

"You know that?" Yami asked.

"Yami, these guys," Bakura said, motioning to Seto, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba, "are not the only ones that knew how you felt about Yugi. Practically the whole school did. It shocked everyone when you went out with Tea instead of Yugi. Everyone was betting you would ask Yugi out." Bakura said.

"Everyone knew?" Seto asked.

"Yeah. Well, maybe not Yugi." Marik said.

"He knew." Ryou said quietly.

"He did?" Yami asked, terrified.

"Yeah. When you started dating Tea, Yugi figured that you were appalled that you liked him and dated Tea to try and forget him." Ryou said.

"But that's not true." Yami said.

Ryou shook his head. "I'm just the messenger, Yami. That's what Yugi told me." Ryou said.

"Ry, you never told me that. I didn't think Yugi knew." Bakura said.

Ryou looked at his Yami and boyfriend. " Bakura, Yugi told me that in secrecy and asked me not to tell anyone, including you. He knew your temper, and he knew that you'd have let Yami have it if you had known that Yugi knew about Yami's feelings." Ryou said.

"Why would Yugi think I'd be upset that I liked him?" Yami asked.

"Well, Yugi's never had a real positive view of himself. We all know that. He just assumed that you wouldn't want someone as "weak and pathetic" as him. Those were his words, not mine." Ryou said.

Yami grimaced. He knew he had screwed up big time.

"So, is that why Yugi's acting like this? Because he thought Yami didn't really love him?" Joey asked.

"No idea. We didn't even know Yugi knew how Yami felt. Don't know what his feelings were." Marik said.

All eyes turned to Ryou again.

"No, I don't know how Yugi felt about Yami. If I did know, I sure as hell wouldn't be telling you." Ryou answered.

Malik sighed. "This is a messed up situation." Malik said.

"I know." Ryou said, looking back at Atemu.

Atemu was still out, and it didn't look like he'd be coming to any time soon.

'Atemu, I hope you'll be reasonable. The secrets need to end, have to end. We have to stop concentrating on our anger and concentrate on Yugi. They might understand better why all this is happening.' Ryou thought.

* * *

Yugi was standing in the meadow. He looked up at the sky.

It was nighttime, so the sky was dark.

Yugi clenched his fists.

"Why? Why couldn't I kill him? I had the perfect opportunity to get my revenge and I didn't. Why?" Yugi growled.

Yugi collapsed to his knees and slammed his fist into the ground hard.

"Why? I cold have ended this! Why didn't I kill him?" Yugi shouted.

A crack of thunder filled the sky, and it started raining.

Yugi stayed on his knees, despite the rain.

Finally, Yugi stood up. He held out his hand and watched as the rain hit his hand.

"I had the perfect chance to kill him, and I blew it. No one could have stopped me." Yugi murmured.

**It no longer matters, master. You can kill him next time.**

"Can I? I'm not so sure. I wanted to kill him, but something held me back." Yugi said.

**It was a moment of weakness! He once meant a lot to you, but that it's in the past! He betrayed you! He hurt you!**

"I know he did. He turned his back on me." Yugi said. He clenched his hand into a fist. "So why didn't I get my revenge? Why didn't I kill him?" Yugi asked.

There was silence.

"Could Ryou have been right? So I really not want to kill him?" Yugi asked.

**No! You have to stop him! If you let him live, he will just hurt you again! He will let it happen again!**

"Will he? Would he even care if he knew the truth?" Yugi asked.

Once more, silence.

Yugi slid down to the ground.

"Do you care, Yami? Did you ever care about me? Or was it just a show? Were you just using me to live again until you got your own body and found a way to escape me? Do I matter to you in the least?" Yugi asked.

Tears started to fall down Yugi's face, mixing with the raindrops that covered his face. Sobs started to wrack Yugi's body as he buried his face in his hands.

"Why won't this pain end? Why?" Yugi sobbed.

* * *

Ryou, Malik, Bakura, and Marik were now alone in the living room with a still unconscious Atemu.

"Ry, you know that Atemu is not going to like the idea of telling them." Bakura said.

"I know, Kura, but we have to." Ryou said. He looked over at the other three. "The secrets need to end. They keep berating Yugi without knowing the truth. If they know the truth, they may understand better." Ryou said. He then looked at Bakura. "And Yami will know why he is a failure." Ryou said.

"I guess I shouldn't have said that, huh?" Bakura asked.

"No, but it's too late now. We have to deal with it." Ryou said.

Marik sighed. "You realize that Atemu might snap." Marik said.

"It's a chance we have to take. If Atemu doesn't think that he can tell them, then I will." Ryou said.

"No. We will all help tell this tale. No one person should have to." Marik said.

Ryou sighed. "I just wish that they had realized the answer to Atemu's question." Ryou said.

"It could be at least one of them already knows the truth. They just haven't been able to admit it." Marik said.

"If it was Yami, then he would have said something. He wants to know the truth." Ryou said. He sighed. "I just don't think he realizes how painful the truth will be." Ryou said.

"Ry, you don't like for others to be hurt. You don't want to hurt Yami with the truth, but Yami brought this one himself." Bakura said.

"I know, Bakura. I just don't know how Yami is going to handle it." Ryou said. He then looked over at Atemu. "And we all know that when the truth comes out, things between Yami and Atemu are not going to be okay. If anything, they will get worse. They are brothers, but I fear that this will strain their relationship." Ryou said.

"Their relationship is already strained. This is only going to make things worse." Marik said.

"I know." Ryou said.

"Well, this is something that they are going to have to deal with." Malik said.

"I just wonder if they are going to believe us." Ryou said.

"If they don't, Atemu will blow his top and prove himself crazier than we are in his rage." Bakura said.

"No joke." Marik agreed.

"Let's just hope that it doesn't come to that." Ryou said softly.

* * *

Seto had received all the information from Simon Schwartz.

'Finally. Maybe I can find out what the hell is going on now.' Seto thought.

Seto opened the manila envelope and pulled out all the papers that were inside. He was rather surprised to find that there were both hospital and police files in this.

Seto frowned. 'What did happen?' Seto asked himself.

Needing the answers, Seto started to read over every ounce of the material he had been given, not leaving a single word unsaid.

By the time he was down, Seto was sick. He ran to the bathroom in his office and threw up before he walked back into the room.

"In my wildest dreams, I did not expect this." Seto said. He gripped the back of his chair so tightly that his knuckles turned white. 'Damn it! How the hell could we have over looked this? The signs should have been obvious! It all should have been obvious!' Seto mentally shouted.

Seto now understood the situation a little better, and he was appalled at all that he had learned.

And his sympathy for Yugi had returned tenfold.

'We have all been ganging up on Yugi, and this is what happened.' Seto thought.

Seto buried his face in his hands.

'Now what?' Seto asked himself, not sure how to tell everyone else all that he had learned.

* * *

"I tell you if I could, I'd murder Yugi!" Tristan growled, pacing the floor.

"Tristan, you can't. Yugi is far too powerful for you alone to handle. Hell, Seto and I have magic, and we didn't stand a chance." Joey said.

"I know, but this is so irritating!" Tristan said, throwing up his hands.

Tea had her face buried in her hands.

"Tea, are you okay?" Serenity asked.

Tea looked up. "No. I can't believe that everyone at school thinks I'm some kind of whore." Tea said.

"We'll fix that." Tristan said.

"Tristan, it's not just that. Yugi knew how Yami felt and because I was selfish and wanted to date Yami, I may have helped cause this. I mean, Yugi thought Yami was angered at the thought that he was in love with Yugi when it was the opposite. How much damage did that one act alone do?" Tea asked.

The group grew quiet.

"I guess I haven't been looking at this from Yugi's side." Tristan said.

"None of us have. Maybe there is a real reason as to why Yugi went out of control. We don't know anything about the situation. We can't keep blaming him for everything when we really don't know what is going on." Joey said.

"But it doesn't give him the right to do this." Mokuba said.

"Doesn't give us the right to berate him the way we have, either." Joey replied.

"So, what do we do?" Serenity asked.

"I've been thinking about what Atemu asked us to think about." Joey said.

"You mean the last time we spent time with Yugi?" Tea asked.

"Yeah. Have any of you given any real thought to those questions? I mean real, serious thought. Not just simple passing over the question in two seconds." Joey asked.

"No. I didn't think that there was a reason to." Tristan said.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Maybe it's time that we thought about it. Maybe we will realize part of what is going on that way." Joey said.

"Maybe you're right. I guess we should give it real thought." Tea agreed.

"Especially if we want Atemu to tell us the truth. I don't think he'll listen to Ryou and tell us early." Mokuba said.

"Ryou did say he'd tell us, but we'd better figure that out ourselves. We might understand it a little better before we learn everything." Serenity said.

They all agreed.

* * *

Yami was lying on his bed in the Kaiba mansion. He was thinking about everything that they had heard and learned from the recent battle with Yugi as well as what Bakura and the others revealed to them afterwards.

'I can't believe that Yugi knew how I felt about him. I can't believe he actually thought that I was disgusted with the fact that I was in love with him. I don't feel like that. I just thought there was no chance he would ever feel the same way about me.' Yami thought.

Yami let out a sigh as he sat up.

'I hurt Yugi deeply with my actions. I didn't even think about how they might affect him.' Yami thought.

Yami looked out the window.

'Why did I do that? I knew that I didn't love Tea. Hell, I don't see her as anything more than a friend. I could never love anyone like I do Yugi, and I made it out like those feelings didn't matter to me in the least.' Yami thought.

Yami buried his face in his hands.

'Why did I do that? Why did I start dating Tea nine months ago?' Yami asked.

Suddenly, something clicked in Yami's mind.

Yami's head shot up as his crimson eyes widened in complete horror.

"Nine and a half months? That's what Yugi said in that battle. He said that he had been hurting for that long. That's what it means." Yami said.

As the realization hit him, an even more startling revelation hit Yami.

"What have I done? How could I do this?" Yami asked himself.

Now, Yami was angry with himself for more than one reason.

* * *

Ryou had recovered from the battle and was now able to heal his friends of their injuries.

Atemu was first on the list.

Atemu groaned. "What the hell hit me?" Atemu asked as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Just about a ton of Shadow magic before you hit solid stone." Bakura said with a smirk.

Atemu looked over at Bakura and glared at him.

"You have told me that you'd prefer I be honest with you instead of lying to your face all the time." Bakura pointed out.

Atemu sighed. "What happened?" Atemu asked.

"In short, Yugi kicked all of our asses, and we barely lived through that battle with Yugi." Marik said.

"And Yugi has more Shadow magic than ever." Malik said.

"How did Yugi gain so much Shadow magic?" Atemu asked as he turned to sit straight on the couch.

"We don't know yet. We're all still recovering." Bakura answered.

"Okay. I can heal you two now." Ryou said. He healed Bakura and Marik.

"I'm good as new now." Marik said.

"Atemu, I know that you're not going to like this, but I think we need to tell them the truth about all this." Ryou said.

"Why?" Atemu demanded.

"Because the secrets are just making matters worse. Everyone is berating Yugi because of what they think is true. They need to know the truth. They'll understand better what is going on." Ryou said.

"I don't know." Atemu said.

"Atemu, if you don't tell them, I will." Ryou said.

Atemu looked over at him. "You're serious." Atemu said.

"Yes. I am." Ryou said.

Atemu sighed. "I don't know." Atemu said.

"We'll all help tell them. This is a group thing." Ryou said.

Atemu nodded. "I get it." Atemu said.

"Um, is this a bad time?"

The five looked up to see that the others were in the room.

"Fantastic timing." Bakura muttered.

Atemu mentally groaned. 'I don't even get the chance to think about it.' Atemu thought.

"Look. We all need to talk." Joey said.

"About what?" Atemu asked.

"What's going on." Joey answered.

"Great. Atemu's awake two minutes, and you're already on him about this." Bakura said.

"You said-" Tea started.

"I know we said that we would talk about telling you. It didn't mean the second Atemu wakes up." Bakura snapped.

"We have to now what is really going on." Tristan said.

"What makes you think that I would agree to tell you?" Atemu asked.

The group wasn't worried because they knew that Ryou would tell them.

"We don't need you to agree." Tristan said.

"Yeah, you do." Ryou said. He turned to face them. "Because right now, all you care about is knowing why to satisfy your own curiosity. It's not about Yugi at all." Ryou said.

"And it is for you?" Serenity asked.

"Yes, it is. All this is about Yugi. The entire reason this started is about Yugi." Ryou said.

Yami was the only one not saying a word. He was watching his brother. 'You knew all I did, and you never killed me for it. I don't understand why.' Yami thought.

"You know, maybe you don't deserve to know. You can't even answer one little question." Malik said.

Atemu stood up. "I need to think before I agree to anything." Atemu said. He started to leave.

"Nine and a half months." Yami said.

Atemu stopped and turned to face his brother. "What?" Atemu asked.

"The answer to your questions." Yami said. He sighed and said, "It has been nine and a half months since I talked to Yugi, spent any time with him, or anything. I have been ignoring him for nine and a half months. We all have. I know that now." Yami said.

Atemu was stunned that his brother knew the truth. He had become quiet.

"You know that Yami?" Joey asked.

"After thinking about it, I realized that the last time I paid any attention to Yugi was before Tea and I dated for that week. I know that now." Yami said.

"So, you finally see part of your mistake." Atemu said.

"Yes, I do. I get your anger Atemu, but I need to know everything. I know Yugi almost died five months ago. I know something is wrong. Please! What?" Yami asked.

Atemu could see that his brother was serious, but he was unsure.

"Atemu, the secrets need to end." Ryou said.

Atemu thought about it.

Everyone was waiting for his answer.

"All right. We'll tell you everything. From the start to the finish. And not one gruesome detail will be left out." Atemu said coldly.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Atemu and the others tell the truth about what happened with Yugi.

R&R.


	7. The Gruesome Truth

Here's the next chapter.

Since everyone has been in suspense over what happened to Yugi, I decided that I would go ahead and update this story since I won't be able to again until Monday.

I will go ahead and warn everyone that this is not a fluffy chapter! There is a lot in this chapter that will be upsetting, so I'm warning you beforehand that there is a lot in this chapter that has darker themes.

Enjoy the extra chapter!

* * *

Chapter 7- The Gruesome Truth

The group wasn't sure if they wanted to know the truth now that they had heard Atemu word it in such a way.

"Um, maybe we don't want to know." Tea said uneasily.

"If you don't, tell me. It won't ever be brought up again." Atemu said. He didn't care one way or another.

Bakura, Marik, Malik, and Ryou were just going to let things go. They figured that if they decided that they didn't want to know, then they wouldn't.

Yami didn't want to know. He knew that much. He knew that it was something he didn't want to hear or know. However, he also knew that he needed to know. He needed to know what had happened. He needed to understand what was going on with his Hikari.

"Just know that if you choose not to listen now, you won't get the chance to know again." Atemu said.

That did it for Yami.

"Tell us, Atemu. I need to know." Yami said.

"All right. Anyone who doesn't want to know, leave now." Atemu said.

Despite being fearful of what they were going to hear, no one tried to leave.

"All right then. I guess we will tell you the truth." Atemu said.

"Just know that nothing we say is a lie, and we're not going to sugarcoat anything." Bakura said.

"Get on with it." Seto said. He already knew part of it, and he knew that it wasn't good. 'I need to know the rest, though.' Seto thought. He was already sick after what he had seen in the hospital and police reports, but he needed to know the rest as well.

"Fine. Nine and a half months ago was when you and Tea dated, Yami." Atemu said.

"We went through this with them. They know that we knew that Yami was in love with Yugi when he started dating Tea, and they now know that Yugi knew about those feelings." Bakura said.

"Well, you already know how it all started then." Atemu said.

"Get on with it." Joey barked.

Atemu started to say something.

"Joey, stay quiet and let them talk." Seto said.

All eyes turned to Seto.

"We need to listen and not judge until we know everything." Seto said.

"All right. After you and Tea started dating, you all started ignoring Yugi. It may have been unintentional, but you did. After that, it was like Yugi didn't exist to you. When you planned to go somewhere, you didn't include Yugi. When you planned parities, Yugi wasn't invited. Conversations barely included him. It was like a routine thing to talk about him, but not to him." Atemu said.

"It pissed us off. You were treating Yugi like he was invisible when he was right in front of you." Malik snapped.

The group was stunned.

"Anyway, the bigger problem for Yugi was you, Yami." Atemu said, staring right at his brother.

Yami gulped, knowing he wouldn't' like this.

"You started making all kinds of promises to do things with Yugi, and you broke every one of them. You'd promise to watch a movie with him, duel him, or something else, but one of them," Atemu said, motioning to Seto, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba, "would always call wanting to do something, excluding Yugi, and you would say yes like you had nothing to do and left. You never even considered Yugi's feelings. You just took off without a word to him." Atemu said.

Yami couldn't believe his behavior.

"Do you have any idea how much that hurt Yugi?" Atemu asked. His eyes revealed the anger that he felt. "He was upset and hurt every time you did that. Each time, it was like a bit of the light that used to fill his eyes died. I started doing those things with him to make him feel a little better. It helped, but not enough." Atemu said.

"Since you all started this shit, Bakura and I started hanging out with Yugi, along with our Hikaris. Honestly, Yugi makes for very good company." Marik said.

"Better than the rest of you." Bakura said.

"Bakura, please stick to the topic." Ryou said.

"This went on for months. You all ignoring Yugi. It got to the point where you didn't even acknowledge Yugi's existence period. I stopped going anywhere with you because I was pissed at how you treated him like he didn't exist." Atemu said.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Tea asked.

"I wanted to, but Yugi wouldn't let me. He begged me not to make waves because he was afraid of how you would react. He was afraid you would blame him for causing trouble. The only reason I didn't slam you against a wall and shout in your face what you had done, Yami, was because Yugi asked me not to." Atemu said.

"Since most people at school had saw that you were ignoring Yugi, the old bullies decided to come back to torment Yugi. I could only handle them so much since I couldn't be there at all times. He still got beat up at times, and I got pissed." Atemu said.

"The reason Marik and I started attending the school in the first place was because of the bullying. We also promised Yugi not to say anything to you people, so we decided to enroll to help protect Yugi." Bakura said.

"Since I'm not like Ryou and Yugi and against violence, I help as well." Malik said. He chuckled. "It was quite fun putting those bullies in their places." Malik added.

'Yugi and I live in the same house. How could I not notice bruises from a beating?' Yami asked himself.

"Things got worse, though." Seto said.

"Yeah. They did. The ignoring started hurting Yugi more and more." Atemu said. He had started walking back and forth in a slow, pacing motion.

It was a sign that Atemu was getting antsy.

Yami knew that it was a sign that things were about to take a very horrible turn, and he had a sinking feeling that whatever happened was bad, and it happened to Yugi.

"Each day, I saw the light in Yugi's eyes die. Each broken promise led to more hurt, which inevitably led to more of that light dying." Atemu said.

"Yugi's heart was being broken by this. He was hurting and breaking from it, and we couldn't stop it." Bakura said.

"Atemu took on the role of Yugi's Yami and protector. He protected Yugi like a Yami. He listened to Yugi like a Yami. He encouraged Yugi like a Yami. He did everything that you were supposed to be doing, Yami." Bakura said.

"Okay. I get it. I did fail in a big way." Yami said.

"Oh no. We haven't even gotten to why you're a failure yet." Marik said.

"Anyway, Yugi was hurting and his heart and soul were breaking from what was happening to him. You know those walks Yugi would take in the park a block from the shop?" Atemu asked.

"Yeah. Yugi would go there and walk for a while. He said it helped to clear his head. He would be gone for about half an hour." Yami said.

"Because of what was going on, those walks became longer. They went from half an hour to an hour and a half to two hours." Atemu said.

"That long?" Tea asked.

"He had a lot that was bothering him given what he was going through at the time." Marik retorted.

The group had looks of guilt on their faces.

"Anyway, one night five months ago, he had gone out for the walk like he always did. I wasn't worried because I knew how his walks had gotten by then." Atemu said. He took a deep breath. His emotions were getting to him. "I was so wrong not to worry." Atemu said, rubbing his face with his hand.

"Atemu, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known." Ryou said.

Atemu turned and walked toward a window.

None of the others understood what was going on.

Bakura decided to take up for Atemu. "That night, Marik and I had decided to go over to see Yugi and Atemu. Ryou and Malik had a test to study for, and they asked us to leave them alone. We had made a habit of going to see Yugi and Atemu in times like that." Bakura said.

"We-decided to go through the park. It cut down on time a little bit." Marik said.

Bakura took a deep breath. "As we were walking, we heard something from one of the bushes. We decided to look." Bakura said.

"It was-Yugi. He was naked and bleeding badly." Marik said.

The group look shocked.

Seto closed his eyes, dreading the next words.

"He'd been raped. It was obvious from the injuries." Bakura said.

The group gasped in shock at the words.

Atemu squeezed his eyes shut as tears started to fall at the words.

Yami's heart ripped and sank at the same time.

Yugi, his Hikari, had been raped and left alone in the park! He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe that it was true.

"We could tell from the way he was bleeding that he was losing blood way too fast. He wouldn't have lived if we called an ambulance." Bakura said.

"So, we went to him. We were going to take him to the hospital ourselves." Marik said.

"When I touched Yugi, we realized that he was semi-conscious from the way he jerked away. He was in a lot of pain, too. The only way to get him out of there was to get him unconscious. I used a sleep spell to put him asleep. We then used our Shadow magic to teleport to the nearest hospital. The doctors there immediately started treating him." Bakura said.

"We tried to call you," Marik said, looking dead at Yami, "but you must have been too busy with your friends to care."

The words were meant to hurt.

And hurt, they did.

Yami felt lower than dirt at knowing what had happened.

"Since they couldn't teach you, they immediately called me." Atemu said. He didn't bother to turn back to face they. "The second I heard, I left the house and headed right to that hospital." Atemu said.

"They also called us, and we went as well." Ryou said.

"Yugi had been so badly beaten and raped that he was in surgery for nearly five hours. When he came out, he was in the ICU. He was in a coma. The doctors were sure he'd die." Malik said softly.

"Too much damage and too much blood loss. They were trying, but they weren't sure that Yugi would live." Marik said.

"The police were called in because of the type of case it was. The hospital had to report a rape case. The police figured out that Yugi had been gang raped by three men. He had been badly beaten, severely raped, and then left to die." Atemu said anger in his voice.

"Those men meant for him to die." Bakura spat, his voice full of venom.

"Who? Who did it?" Tristan asked, in shock.

"We don't know." Atemu said.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Mokuba demanded.

Atemu's eyes flared. "You think I like this? You think I like not knowing who raped and nearly killed Yugi? If I knew, they'd already be dead, but I don't!" Atemu shouted.

Ryou put a hand on Atemu's shoulder. "Calm down." Ryou said.

Atemu turned back to the window, pissed.

Mokuba was shocked and scared.

"Yugi wound up in that coma for three weeks. Each day he remained unconscious, the doctors had less hope that Yugi would ever wake up." Ryou said.

"He went through four surgeries within the first three days he was there. He went through a total of seven." Malik said.

This shocked the.

"That many?" Tea asked lowly.

"That's how bad the damage was." Bakura said.

"The physical damage did not compare with the mental and emotional damage that was caused." Atemu said.

"We all took turns staying with Yugi. He was never alone for a second. Night and day, someone was there." Bakura said.

"We missed school, but we had to for Yugi's sake." Marik said.

"We were all there when he woke up." Ryou said.

"You could see in his eyes what had happened. It left no room for doubt. Yugi's expression was filled pain, with horror, with disgust, and with torment. He knew what had happened." Marik said.

"You can't imagine how hard it was seeing that look in Yugi's eyes." Malik sad, tears filling his eyes.

"The innocence that once was there had been destroyed by those people." Marik said his voice filled with rage.

Serenity had started shaking with what she was hearing.

Mokuba wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, hoping to calm her down.

Tea was gripping Tristan's hand tightly, horror filling her at learning what had happened to Yugi.

Tristan was disgusted with himself for thinking so badly of Yugi now that he knew what horrors Yugi had faced.

Joey was sick, and he was fighting his emotions. He may have been beaten by his father, but he had never gone through this, and he was sick.

Seto had a hand on Joey's shoulders. He was sick as well, even though he had learned all this earlier. It still made him sick to hear it.

"It got worse." Atemu said.

"How?" Tea asked her voice strained from the effort it took for her not to cry.

"When Yugi saw Atemu, there seemed to be a bit of light left in his eyes. We thought that maybe he was still there." Bakura said.

"Until he said the name." Malik said.

"Yami. That's what he called me." Atemu said. He turned to face Yami. "He thought that I was you, and he thought for a moment that you had started to care and were there for him. When I told him that it was me, that light died. Whatever was left of Yugi died. His heart and soul had been ripped to shreds by what happened, and there was barely anything left of the old Yugi. He had lost his innocence, he had lost some of his friends, and he felt worthless." Atemu said.

"Why wasn't I told?" Yami asked.

"We tried." Atemu said in a dangerous voice.

Yami knew that voice all too well. It meant that Atemu was close to snapping.

"I tried on several occasions to tell you. You were always too busy with your damned friends to care! You always brushed me off! I told you it was about Yugi, and you said you'd listen later! And you never did! Damn it, Yami! Yugi was in the hospital for a month and half, and you never noticed he was missing! You didn't notice he was never there!" Atemu growled angrily.

Yami's expression was shock. He couldn't believe that he had not noticed that Yugi was not in the house for that long. He also couldn't believe he hadn't noticed anything else.

The others were shocked as well.

"The Yugi we all knew and loved was destroyed the night he was raped. There was barely anything left of his heart and his soul." Atemu said angrily.

"Afterwards, things got worse." Bakura said.

"How?" Tristan asked.

"Because of you, Yami." Ryou said.

Once more, Yami looked up. He was fearful of what he would learn now.

"Every day for a month after he was raped, after he came home, Yugi tried to tell you what happened. He tried to tell you, but you never listened. Every day, you brushed him off. Every day, you told him you didn't have time for him. And every day, a little more of Yugi died. A shred of Yugi was left, and each day you brushed him off, that shred became smaller." Atemu said.

"Yugi couldn't take it. After a month, he tried to commit suicide." Bakura said.

This shocked them again.

"After leaving the hospital, Yugi had been given pain medicine for his injuries since he was still in a lot of pain. After you brushed him off again, he couldn't handle it. He tried to take his own life." Ryou said.

"If I had found him any later, he would have died. We barely got him to the hospital in time. He was devastated." Atemu said.

Yami swallowed thickly. He understood now. He understood Yugi's anger. He understood Atemu's anger.

And he understood why he was a failure as a Yami. It wasn't because Yugi had been raped. It was because he had not listened to Yugi. It was because he hadn't been there for Yugi when Yugi had needed him the most. It was because of ignorance and inattentiveness.

"A few weeks after that, Yugi started to live with us. He couldn't handle living in the same house with you anymore, Yami. Not believing what he did. He was going crazy, and he needed to get away. We offered to let him to live with us to give him some relief." Bakura said.

"You never noticed that Yugi moved out, Yami. For two months, Yugi lived with them, and you never noticed." Atemu said.

"I get it." Yami said.

"No, Yami. You don't. None of you do!" Atemu snapped.

They were shocked at this.

"You don't know the pain Yugi has been through! You don't know how it feels to be abandoned by your friends! You all had each other! You don't know how it feels to go through all that! You don't know how it feels to be gang raped! You don't know how it feels to be pushed through all this! Hell, we don't know hot that feels!" Atemu growled, motioning to himself, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik. "Don't say you understand when you don't! Just because you know the truth doesn't make you experts!" Atemu snapped. He glared at Joey. "Do you still think Yugi deserved what happened to him, Joey?" Atemu pat.

Joey flinched at that, the words he had said coming back to haunt him.

Because of his anger, Shadow magic started swirling at his hands.

Everyone got scared.

"Atemu! Your magic! Get control!" Bakura barked, stepping in front of Atemu. He was prepared to fight him if need be.

Atemu realized that his anger was getting the best of him, and he knew that he needed to get out of there. He turned and left the room without another word.

The slamming of the door signaled that Atemu had left the mansion.

"Come on, Marik. We need to go and make sure he doesn't something stupid." Bakura said.

Marik and Bakura followed Atemu out, hoping to stop him.

Malik sighed. "Well, that could have gone worse." Malik said.

"How?" Mokuba asked.

"Atemu could have killed everyone here." Malik answered.

Ryou turned to face them.

"I can't believe it." Joey said.

"No way. It's not true. Atemu's just saying that to make us all feel guilty and make us feel sorry for Yugi." Tristan said, not wanting to believe this was true.

"Yeah. That must be it." Joey agreed uneasily.

Malik growled and started to say something.

"No, Malik." Yami said. He shook his head. He stood up and started pacing the floor. "I know my brother. He wouldn't say something like that to make us feel guilty. He was honest. He was telling the truth. I saw it in his eyes." Yami said.

"Yami." Tea said.

Yami turned to them. "Yugi was gang raped, and we never noticed. I never noticed. Great Ra! Bakura's right. I am a failure as a Yami." Yami said, running a hand through his hair.

"No. It isn't true, Yami. They have to be lying." Serenity said, also not wanting to believe it to be true.

They didn't want to believe something this horrible had happened to Yugi.

"Yami, your faith in your brother is well-placed." Seto said.

Everyone looked at Seto.

Ryou looked at him and said, "You weren't surprised when you were told Yugi had been raped. You knew, didn't you?"

Seto nodded. "I wanted answers, so I had one of my private detectives look into anything about Yugi over the last year. I saw the police and hospital reports. I knew what happened." Seto said.

The group was silent.

"He was raped?" Tea asked in a low voice.

"Yes. Everything they said was true." Seto said.

This caused them to be quiet.

Now, they knew that Yugi was raped. There was no way that they could get around that fact. They couldn't explain it away. They couldn't ignore it now.

"Well, now that you know the truth, maybe you get why Yugi's so pissed. You all ignored him, you tossed your friendship with him away like it never meant a damn thing to you, he was raped, you never noticed or cared, and now he wants to kill you. That sums everything up. Now, goodbye." Malik said before he turned and left the room.

Ryou sighed. He sat down.

"Got anything to say?" Tristan asked. For once, he wasn't sarcastic or condescending.

"What? That you're all idiots. That you're all partly to blame for this." Ryou said.

"We didn't mean for this to happen." Tea said desperately.

"I know that, Tea. I know you didn't mean for this to happen. Unintentional or not, it happened. You ignored Yugi, and you acted like you didn't care." Ryou said. He then looked at Yami. "You were supposed to protect him. You failed to do that. You were supposed to listen. You failed to do that. Yami, you did everything wrong in the last nine months." Ryou said.

"I know that now." Yami said quietly. He sighed. "And I get why Yugi wants me dead. I deserve it." Yami said.

"Yami." Tea said.

"No, Tea. I do. The worst thing a Yami can do is abandon their Hikari. Light cannot live without darkness. That is true of Yamis and Hikaris. If a Yami abandons their Hikari, their Hikaris become vulnerable. I let this happen." Yami said.

"Yami, if you had been paying attention to Yugi, this might have still happened. The only difference is you would have known, and only one of those men might have raped him, not all three." Ryou said.

"But the major point is that I ignored Yugi. I didn't listen to him. That's what wrong. I didn't listen when he tried to talk to me." Yami said. His eyes had filled with tears, and he knew he deserved to die.

"I know." Ryou said.

"Ryou, why were there no arrests?" Seto asked.

"Because Yugi wouldn't tell the police who the men were. He wouldn't even describe them. He said he couldn't remember, but we could tell that he did. He wouldn't even tell us. He was too afraid to." Ryou said.

"So, these guys are still roaming free?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. We don't know who they are. Trust me. If Marik, Bakura, and Atemu had known who they were, these men would already be dead." Ryou said.

"Great. These guys are getting away with rape." Joey said.

"For now." Ryou said.

Seto shook his head. "Those lowlifes don't deserve to live!" Seto growled.

"If Yugi doesn't tell us who, we can't do anything." Ryou said.

"Can we help Yugi?" Joey asked.

"I don't know. We don't even know how he got Yami's Shadow magic, and now the links between Yami and Hikaris have been broken." Ryou said.

"What are you talking about? Joey and I have our link. We use it all the time." Seto said.

"We don't. Bakura and I don't have it. Marik and Malik don't. We know Yugi and Yami don't. If Atemu knew who his Hikari was, he wouldn't have it, either. For some reason, the links are between the four Yamis and the four Hikaris now. Malik, Yugi, and I have a link. If we knew who Atemu's Hikari was, we'd have a link with them, too. Atemu, Bakura, and Marik have a link. Yami does, too. They're just keeping Yami blocked." Ryou said.

"I couldn't have reached Yugi if I wanted to." Yami said softly.

"No. The link was shattered the day he woke up in the hospital after the rape. We think that because Yugi lost all trust in you, the link was shattered. Since we were all so close to Yugi, we were all linked. Since Yugi had such a close relationship with us, we think that's why we three Hikaris have a link. Atemu, Bakura, and Marik have become best friends over the last nine months, so we think that's why they have a link." Ryou said.

"I was just a part of it because Yugi is my Hikari, and he's linked to you." Yami said.

"Yes. That's also the reason that Atemu's Hikari would be linked to us." Ryou said.

Yami sat back down. "I royally screwed up. I abandoned Yugi, and I let all this happened. I destroyed him." Yami said.

"Yami, you didn't rape him." Seto said.

"I might as well have! I didn't listen to him! I wasn't there for him when I needed him the most! I told him that I would always be there when he needed me, and I wasn't! This is my fault!" Yami said.

Ryou wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He knew Yami was right that he was partly responsible.

"There's nothing you can do now." Seto said.

"I know." Yami said.

Joey looked at Ryou. "Can we help Yugi? I mean, can we get him to stop?" Joey asked.

"Yugi is under the influence of Shadow magic. We don't even know what all is going through his mind. We don't know. I hope we can save him, but I won't say we can. Right now, we're going to do good just to stay alive." Ryou said.

"What happens now?" Serenity asked.

"I don't know. Atemu will need to calm down before we move forward. Atemu has been our leader through this. We trust his judgment. We're going to have to see what he says." Ryou said.

"Except Atemu hates us." Tristan said.

"He doesn't hate you. He's angry at you. He's pissed. Atemu wants to save Yugi, and he's angry that we can't help him right now. I don't know what to do." Ryou said.

"There has to be something." Seto said.

"If there is, we'll find it. Somehow." Ryou said.

* * *

Atemu had gone to a nearby park and was standing on the bridge. He gripped the railing tightly.

"Atemu, are you okay?" Bakura asked.

Atemu turned to face them. "I don't know. I am just so angry." Atemu said.

"Atemu, hearing and saying all this makes you angry because it forces you to relive those memories. Trust me. We know." Bakura said.

"We're behind you on this, but we can't kill them. As angry as I am, we need them alive." Marik said.

"I know." Atemu said. He closed his eyes. "I just wish this hasn't happened."

"We all do." Marik said.

"What now?" Bakura asked.

"When I calm down, we go back to the mansion. We'll need to put the shield up again with Seto and Joey's help. The added power might hold Yugi back." Atemu said.

"Then what?" Bakura asked.

"I don't know. Find a way to help Yugi." Atemu said.

"I hope we can." Marik said.

"So do I." Atemu agreed.

The three were silent for several moments.

"Can I take one shot at Yami?" Bakura asked.

"No." Atemu said.

"Why not?" Bakura asked.

"Because I saw his eyes. He knows the truth now. He needs to think about it." Atemu said.

"I hope he sees what an ass he has been to Yugi." Marik said.

'He has, but it's not enough.' Atemu thought.

* * *

Yami was in his room alone.

Everything he had learned was going through Yami's mind, and he now broke.

Yami collapsed on the bed and started crying.

'What have I done? I hurt Yugi. I destroyed him. I caused this. I didn't mean to, but I did.' Yami thought.

The mere thought that Yugi had been raped killed him.

'I let him suffer alone. I let him slowly die. I caused this. I deserve to die.' Yami thought.

Yami buried his face into his pillow and started sobbing.

* * *

Yugi stood in the meadow, looking up.

"I won't let it go, Yami. I will get over this, and I will kill you. You will know the pain you caused me." Yugi said.

Memories flashed through his mind.

"You let me get raped. You let it happen. You didn't care. I will make you pay!" Yugi growled angrily.

* * *

Atemu, Marik, Bakura, and Malik had gone back to the mansion, where Ryou still was.

With help from Seto and Joey, the five erected a new shield, hoping that this one was powerful enough to keep Yugi out.

"Since Yugi's after you, you need to stay inside the shield. Stay here." Seto said.

"I don't know." Atemu said.

"You need it. We want to help now." Seto said.

"Fine. We'll stay. For now." Atemu said.

Seto nodded his agreement. "Come on. I'll show you to your rooms." Seto said.

The group then headed upstairs.

Once Seto showed them to their rooms, he went to his own room.

Since it was late, everyone was in bed, digesting what they had learned and dealing with the shock of what had happened.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Just so everyone knows, I hate rape with a passion. I think that anyone who does rape anohter person deserves to be killed. I can't stand it when I hear about it, especially when it's children. I only used it because I needed something extremely devastating to Yugi, and this was it. I apologize to anyone who has a problem wiht this.

Next: A conversation between Yami and Atemu.

R&R.


	8. A Confrontation Between Brothers

Here's the next chapter.

Sorry for the delay.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8- A Confrontation Between Brothers

The following morning, there was a tense quiet as everyone was gathered in the Kaiba mansion now.

No one knew quite what to say, and many were too scared to say anything because they were afraid of saying something that would offend someone else.

The group sat in the dining room, eating breakfast in silence.

Finally, Joey couldn't take it anymore. "So, what are we going to do now?" Joey asked.

Everyone was worried about Atemu's reaction.

"We don't know yet. There's a lot to consider. Not to mention the fact that we're not fairing that well against Yugi at the moment." Atemu answered.

"Yeah. We had our asses handed to us." Bakura agreed.

"Is there any way to figure out how Yugi got Yami's Shadow magic?" Serenity asked.

Atemu put his fork down and leaned back.

Everyone was tense again, not sure of Atemu's reaction.

"We've been trying to figure it out, but we don't know the answer to that question. Under no circumstances should a Hikari ever obtain their Yami's Shadow magic. It isn't supposed to happen, and we haven't figured out what it did." Atemu said.

"The only person who might know the answer to that question is Yugi." Marik said.

"Well, I'm sure that we can't ask him right now." Malik said.

"I know that." Marik retorted.

Bakura groaned. "Oh, knock it off. I swear that you two are as bad as the Priest and his mutt." Bakura said.

"I AM NOT A DOG!" Joey retorted.

"Why not? That's what your boyfriend calls you." Bakura said.

Joey growled.

"Okay. Simmer down, Joey. No need to get upset." Seto said, keeping his hand on Joey's shoulder to keep him from attacking.

"I'm still trying to figure out where the extra power came from. He shouldn't have been able to break through the first shield, and he had a hell of a lot more power than he did the other times we fought him." Bakura said.

"I don't know. That doesn't make sense, either." Atemu said.

"Is there any way we can help?" Seto asked.

"Well, the extra Shadow magic and Light magic out in battle will be of some help, but given the way Yugi has been, I don't know how much help it will be." Atemu said.

"Every little bit helps, Atemu." Ryou said.

"I know." Atemu said.

"So, what are the chances of trying to reason with Yugi?" Tea asked.

"Nil. We already tried that, and it went over badly." Bakura said.

"It's why Yugi sees us as an enemy. We tried to reason with him, and we failed miserably." Marik said.

"So, is it impossible?" Tristan asked.

"We don't know." Malik said.

Yami had remained quiet throughout all of breakfast. He was still upset over all that he had learned the day before.

When breakfast ended, everyone spread out.

* * *

Seto, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba were all in the living room.

"What do we do now?" Serenity asked.

"We have to do something to help Yugi. I mean, we can't just want him to get hurt now. He doesn't deserve it." Tristan said.

"We know, but he's trying to kill us." Mokuba said.

"Correction. Yami is his main target right now." Seto said.

"But he's coming after us." Tea said.

"Yugi partly blames us for everything, but most of his anger is directed at Yami right how. He's the one that needs to worry." Seto said.

"Speaking of Yami, he didn't say a whole lot during breakfast." Serenity said.

"Of course he didn't." Seto said.

"What do you mean?" Tristan asked.

"Yami just found out that Yugi was gang raped five months ago, was in the hospital a month and half as a result, and that he didn't bother to listen to anyone about it, even Yugi. Yami turned his back on Yugi. Intentional or not, that's what he did. Yami's reeling from what he's learned. He's also upset with himself. He's upset that he ignored Yugi and didn't listen to him when Yugi tried to tell him." Seto said.

"I guess this is partly Yam's fault." Joey said.

"Unfortunately, it is." Seto agreed.

"It's not like he wanted this to happen." Tristan said.

"It's not the rape itself that is the problem. It's the fact that Yami didn't listen to anyone, even Yugi, about what happened. It's also about the fact that Yami didn't notice Yugi gone so much." Seto said.

Tea sighed. "Is there any way to help Yami?" Tea asked.

"No one can help with the kind of guilt that Yami has right now. I can't imagine what he's going through." Seto said.

"I just hope that Yami and Atemu are never in the same room alone." Serenity said.

"Why?" Mokuba asked.

"Because after the way things went yesterday, I'm worried that Atemu might kill him." Serenity said.

"Well, we just have to let things play out." Seto said.

* * *

Yami was standing outside of the room that was now Atemu's room. He had been standing there for the last five minutes.

Deep down, Yami knew he needed to talk to Atemu. He knew that there was more too all this. He needed to know everything. He needed to know everything that Yugi went through. He needed to know it all.

Taking a deep breath, Yami raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Atemu said.

Yami opened the door and walked in.

Atemu was standing at the window, looking outside. His arms were crossed and his face was set in a frown as he stared at out.

Atemu was upset. After revealing everything the day before, he had started to remember everything over the last nine months, and it was making him upset all over again. It had been hard to deal with it before, and it was hard to have to deal with it again.

Yami shut the door quietly behind him. "Atemu." Yami said.

Hearing his brother's voice, Atemu turned around.

Yami could clearly see the anger that existed in Atemu's eyes, and he knew that Atemu was angry at him.

"What are you doing here, Yami?" Atemu asked, his voice cold.

Yami didn't expect open arms, but he didn't expect Atemu to be this cold toward him, either.

"Well?" Atemu prodded after five minutes of silence.

"Atemu, I needed to talk to you. About what you told us yesterday." Yami said.

"What? Did you not believe it? Do you think I'm lying?" Atemu asked.

"No. I know you, and I know that you would never lie about something like that. I just, I know that there is more to all this. You were holding back a lot." Yami said.

"Damn right I was. I was not saying some things because I knew it would cause me to lose control of my temper, and I don't want to do something that I would later regret." Atemu said.

"I'm asking you to tell me." Yami said.

Atemu looked at his brother, contemplating whether or not to tell Yami everything.

"Atemu, please. I know that I don't deserve an answer, but I need one. I need to know everything that has happened." Yami said.

"You do realize that none of it is good. You know that I am not going to be telling you one shred of good news." Atemu said.

"I know that, Atemu. After hearing what happened to Yugi, I know that it won't be good. I know that. I admit that I would rather not know, but I need to know." Yami said.

"Fine. I'll tell you what I held back." Atemu said.

Yami nodded. He knew that he would not like what he heard, but he also knew that it was necessary for him to learn the truth.

"After you started ignoring Yugi, you hurt him worse than anyone else in the past ever had. Every day, I saw the pain in Yugi's eyes grow. Most days, Yugi would ask me what he had done to make you ignore him. Eventually, that question evolved to why you hated him." Atemu said.

"Hate him? I don't hate him!" Yami protested.

"That's what he thought, Yami! Yugi thought, thinks, that you hate him. I tried to relieve those fears each time. I didn't want him to think that you hated him, but it wasn't enough. I tried to take up your job and act as his Yami even thought I wasn't, and I knew that he appreciated it, but at the same time, it wasn't enough. He didn't want me to do what you did, he wanted you to do it." Atemu said.

"I know." Yami said. He sat down in a chair. "I know I messed up." Yami said.

"Yami, this goes beyond messing up. You ripped his heart out. Every day you ignored him, a little more of him died. I had to watch as the light in eyes slowly died. I watched as day after day, a little more of Yugi's soul was crushed. I watched him slowly fade away." Atemu said angrily.

Yami looked at his brother and saw pain behind the anger. "I know, Atemu. I can never imagine what Yugi went through." Yami said.

"No, Yami. You can't. No one can." Atemu said. He turned away and ran a hand through his hair. "The night Yugi was raped, he had gone out for one of those walks. He hadn't been gone an hour, so I wasn't worried because his walks had become so long." Atemu said.

Yami watched his brother. He hated hearing this again, but he knew that it was nothing compared to what Yugi had been through, was still going through.

Atemu turned to face Yami. He had tears in his eyes now. "When I got that call from Bakura, everything was fine. He only had to say one sentence to destroy everything. 'Yugi's in the hospital, and he was raped.' That was exactly what Bakura said. I got to the hospital as fast as I could. He was in surgery for five hours. In that time, I tried to call you what seemed like a hundred times, but you never answered your damn phone! I got desperate enough to get in touch with you that I tried to call Seto, I tried to call Joey, I tried to call Tristan, I tried to call Tea, I tried to call Serenity, and I tried to call Mokuba. Not one of you answered your damn phones! During the five hours that Yugi was in surgery, you were off having a good time with your friends. While Yugi was fighting for his life, you were partying." Atemu said.

Yami swallowed thickly, seeing why his brother was so angry at him.

"Yugi was fighting for his life, and it was like you didn't care. I tried to tell you several times afterwards that Yugi was in the hospital because he had been raped, but you brushed me off, Yami! You brushed me off! It was about Yugi, and I told you that, and it was like you didn't care!" Atemu growled.

Yami was stunned, but he kept quiet. He was starting to understand more.

"Yugi was in a coma for three weeks. Every day, I went to that hospital. I would sit with him for hours on end. His face was bruised and swollen from the beating he had received. He had broken ribs, a broken leg, a shattered wrist, and severe head trauma, and that doesn't include all the internal injuries he got from the rape itself." Atemu said.

Yami couldn't imagine going through that.

"I sat by him every day. I talked to him every day. I knew that there was a chance every day that he would never wake up. I knew that. You have no idea how much time I spent praying that Yugi would live. Praying that Ra would allow him to live. It was torture having to sit there and see him in that condition. What made me so angry is that you were the one that was supposed to be there! You were supposed to be the one that was there! You were the one that promised your Hikari you would always be there for him, and you weren't! When you needed him the most, you were not there for him!" Atemu growled angrily.

Yami flinched. Not at the anger, but at the truth that was hitting him in the face.

"When Yugi woke up, there was barely anything left. The innocence was gone. He was scared, he was traumatized, he was destroyed, and his eyes looked near dead. It was a heart-wrenching sight that I wish I could forget, and one that I hope I never see in another person's eyes as long as I live. However, when he saw me, there was a bit of light still there. But he called me you. It was you that Yugi wanted there. It was you that he thought was there by your side. In that moment, in that single moment, he thought you were there. He thought you still cared. He thought you had remembered him. He thought that you were there for him." Atemu said.

"I do care." Yami said quietly.

"Well, you have a good way of showing it, Yami! You weren't there when he needed you the most!" Atemu snapped.

"I didn't mean for this to happen." Yami said.

"I know you didn't, but it did. You were ignorant. You were going about your new life having all the fun in the world, and Yugi was the one that paid the price for your stupidity. Yugi paid the price. When I had to tell him that I wasn't you, that was it. What little light was left in his eyes was gone. It was like his soul had been ripped apart entirely. That was when he started crying. I held him as he cried. I tried to reassure him that he was safe. I tried to tell him that no one would hurt him again. But it didn't help." Atemu said. His eyes were filled with pure pain and anger. "It was you. You were the one he wanted to hold him. You were the one he wanted to tell him that he was safe, that no one would hurt him again. The only way he would believe it is if you were the one telling, and you were no where." Atemu said.

Yami couldn't help the tears. Hearing all this, knowing his Hikari had needed him, knowing he had not listened to the ones trying to tell him about his Hikari, and knowing that he had not been there, made Yami realize that he was to blame. Maybe not for the rape, but for not being there for Yugi.

"Yugi was in the hospital for three more weeks after he woke up. He cried himself to sleep every night. He had nightmares about being raped. He had nightmares about those men. He was so scared of them that he was not able to tell us who had done it. He wouldn't tell us. He was traumatized and terrified. But even that was easier compared to the following month." Atemu said.

"The following month?" Yami asked.

"Yes. Every day for the first month after he got home from the hospital, he tried to talk to you. Yugi tried to tell you what had happened to him. He tried to be honest. He tried, and you never once listened! You always had some excuse not to listen. Sometimes, it was because you had to meet your friends. Sometimes, it was because you had schoolwork that needed to be done. Sometimes, it was because you had to work the shop. And sometimes you didn't bother to give a reason." Atemu said.

In that instant, Yami could think of an entire month where Yugi had come to him and tried to talk to him. He didn't remember the excuses, but he remembered how he's been irritated that Yugi was coming to him every day to talk to him. He hadn't even considered that maybe there was an important reason that Yugi had needed to talk to him.

"Every time Yugi asked you, and every time you left, Yugi would always turn to me and ask me the exact same question. 'Why? Why does Yami hate me?' Those were his exact words. Every day, he asked me that. And every day, I tried to reassure him that you didn't hate him. I tried to tell him that you just had your priorities mixed up. After a month of this, I couldn't answer like that anymore." Atemu said.

"Why?" Yami asked, shocked.

"Because I didn't believe it myself. I began to think that you did hate him, and even now, I'm not convinced that you care about him. It was then that Yugi tried to take his own life. I knew that if I had just tried to lie and tell him that you didn't hate him that it might not have happened, but I couldn't lie." Atemu said. He shook his head and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Yami, after he got home, he would wake up screaming from the nightmares. Some nights, he would still be trapped in the nightmares when I got to him. And some nights, I found him sobbing into his pillow. I would hold him and tried to calm him down. It didn't help, though. It took me hours to calm him down. Hours. You never heard him, Yami. How, I will never know." Atemu said.

"So, I was an ignorant bastard." Yami said.

"Yes. You were. After he got home after the suicide, Yugi decided to move in with Bakura and the others. He couldn't take living in the shop anymore." Atemu said.

Yami nodded. "I get it. I really do. I may not understand it entirely, but I get it. I screwed up big time. I ignored my Hikari, and I left him vulnerable. I didn't listen to him, and it caused all this to happen. I am the cause of this." Yami said.

"You don't entirely understand, but you're starting to." Atemu said. He was still wiping tears away.

Yami looked up. "You hate me, don't you?" Yami asked.

Atemu gave an ironic laugh. "You know, I would love to say I do hate you with every fiber of my being, but I can't. I don't hate you. Not entirely. But I do hate you on some level. I can't stand what I have seen Yugi go through while you've been living so wonderfully. It makes me angry just to think about it. I just hate what you have done." Atemu said.

Yami nodded. "Yeah. I think I do get it now." Yami said.

Deep down, Yami knew that he had messed up badly.

"Yami, there's something that I want you to think about. What do you think Yugi was doing when those men attacked him?" Atemu asked.

Yami looked up at his brother, confused.

"Think about it. Whenever Yugi was in trouble, what did he do?" Atemu asked.

It didn't take long for the answer to his Yami. His eyes widened in horror. "He would have called out to me through the link." Yami said softly.

"Exactly, and you didn't hear him, Yami. Why do you think it hurt so much? You blocked the link, and you didn't hear him calling for help when he needed you the most. It hurt Yugi more than you could ever imagine. Light cannot live without darkness, Yami." Atemu said.

Yami nodded. "I know." Yami said.

Atemu sat down on the bed. "Yami, no one can understand the pain that Yugi is in right now, not even me. He's going through hell. I just don't know what else to tell you." Atemu said.

Yami was quiet for a moment. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Yami, I am angry at you. I do blame you for part of this." Atemu said, calmer.

Yami looked up at his brother. He had tears himself.

"I blame you for not listening. For not noticing. Yami, Yugi was scared of touch. From anyone. He'd flinch from any loud noises. A lot scared him. It should have been obvious that something was wrong if you had paid attention. That's what I blame you for. Being ignorant. Not listening. Not many think that someone not listening to you would be very damaging, but in this case, it was." Atemu said.

"I know. When it comes from a Yami and Hikari, it's very damaging. I know that now." Yami said.

"I'm still angry at you. Even if we can find a way to save Yugi, even if we get Yugi back, I'm still going to be angry." Atemu said.

Yami nodded.

"But there is something I need to apologize for." Atemu said.

Yami looked up. "Atemu, you did everything that I should have done for Yugi in the last nine months. You don't owe me an apology of any kind." Yami said, incredulous. He was guilt-ridden now, and he knew that he didn't deserve any apology.

"Yes, I do. The first day that this started, I should have told you the truth instead of acting like some kind of high and mighty bastard. I had no right to hide it. I was just angry, and I wanted to see if you realized anything." Atemu said.

"That battle yesterday. Yugi and Bakura were talking, or yelling, and that's what made me realize that something more was going on. They said something about nine and a half months. After I thought about it, it hit me. I didn't just come to it on my own." Yami said.

"But you did." Atemu said.

Yami looked up. "I messed up, Atemu. In a big way. Instead of telling Yugi I was in love with, I started dating Tea. It was the first thing that started all this. I am at fault here. I know that. But I want to help. I want to help you find a way to get Yugi back." Yami said.

"Well, if there's a way, we'll find it. I just hope we find it fast." Atemu said.

Yami nodded his agreement. He then stood up. "Atemu, I don't know how this will end, but I am sorry for all this." Yami said.

Atemu looked up at Yami. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to." Atemu said.

"Yugi deserves a bigger apology, and I know I'll never be able to make up for what I let happen. I do owe you, though. You were there for Yugi when I wasn't, and I'm glad Yugi had someone to turn to." Yami said. He turned and started to leave.

"Yami." Atemu said.

Yami stopped and turned.

"There's more to why I was angry." Atemu said.

"What?" Yami asked.

"Yami, I have never told you this, but I've been jealous of you. And of Bakura and Marik." Atemu said.

"Why?" Yami asked, shocked.

"Because you ahe your Hikaris. You know who they are. You have them with you. You can protect them. You can talk to them. You can love them. Despite what happened, I know you love Yugi. I don't have that. I get jealous because you have your Hikari. I don't know who mine is. I don't know who my Hikari is or where they are. Yami, you took Yugi for granted and now, you may have lost him for good." Atemu said.

"Father always said that you should never take for granted what you have." Yami said.

"Because you never know when you could lose it." Atemu finished. He sighed. "You all have what I want. To have my Hikari in my life. There is a hole in my heart because of that. Yami, Bakura and Marik don't take Ryou and Malik for granted because they know that they are lucky to have them. After the way they treated them, Bakura and Marik know how easy it would be to lose them. I don't have mine, so I can't, but I don't plan to take mine for granted if I ever find them. Yami, you took Yugi for granted. If, by some miracle, Yugi does forgive you, and you get him back, don't take him, his friendship, or his trust for granted, because if you do, you could lose it." Atemu said.

Yami nodded. "I won't. I don't think I could again." Yami said.

"Don't forget how you feel now, Yami. Because you may feel bad, but Yugi feels worse. What's been taken from him can never be changed." Atemu said.

"I know, and if I ever find out who raped him, I swear that I will rip them limb from limb." Yami said.

"Marik, Bakura, and I will help." Atemu said.

Yami nodded. He started to leave, but turned back. "Atemu, thank you for looking out for Yugi the way you did. When you do find your Hikari, you will make a great Yami." Yami said.

"Don't you mean if?" Atemu asked.

"No. When. I know you'll find your Hikari." Yami said before he left.

Atemu smiled. "I hope you're right." Atemu said.

* * *

Yami had gone back to his room.

Atemu had given Yami a great deal to think about.

'I betrayed Yugi. I hurt him. I didn't have the link open to know what was happening. He was raped and left for dead.' Yami thought.

Yami buried his face in his hands.

"How can I call myself a good Yami when I let all this happen? Bakura's right. I am a failure." Yami said.

Yami knew that a Yami failed when they turned their backs on their Hikaris and allowed them to get hurt or killed. He knew he had failed.

But he intended to make things right as much as he could.

And that included saving Yugi.

Even if it killed him.

* * *

"Things have been quiet." Seto said.

"I thought we would have hear shouting and bloodshed by now." Bakura remarked.

"Why?" Tea asked.

"Because Yami went into Atemu's room earlier." Marik said.

"What? Why didn't you say so?" Joey asked, jumping to his feet.

"Sit down!" Bakura barked.

"And let Yami kill him?" Mokuba asked.

"If Atemu wanted to kill him, he would have by now." Bakura said.

"Besides, Yami went there. Yami obviously wanted to talk to him." Ryou said.

"About what?" Serenity asked.

"Probably what we found out yesterday. Atemu would have been with Yugi for the majority of the time after he was raped. I'm sure that Yami wanted to talk to Atemu and find out every detail." Seto said.

"Is that wise?" Mokuba asked.

"Mokuba, Yami is guilty, just like we are. He wants to know everything." Tristan said.

"You changed your tune." Malik said.

"Knowing what Yugi's been through and knowing we ignored him, I can't be angry now. Yugi needs help." Tristan said.

"Glad to know." Bakura said.

"So, are we all in this to save Yugi, not kill him?"

The others looked to see Atemu and Yami behind them.

"Yeah. We're all in this to save Yugi." Joey said.

"Good. It may end up being that we all are going to have to work together to save him." Atemu said.

"So, what do we do?" Serenity asked.

"That is a very good question." Atemu said.

"Whatever it is, we'd better know what to do before Yugi attacks again." Seto said.

"Right. We have to work fast." Atemu said.

It wasn't going to be easy to save Yugi, but they knew that they had to try. They were going to do whatever it took to save Yugi.

No matter how long it took.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Another attack.

R&R.


	9. Another Strike

Here's the next chapter.

[blah blah blah]- Ryou to other Hikaris (mind link)

[[blah blah blah]]- Malik to other Hikaris (mind link)

{blah blah blah}- Yami to other Yamis (mind link)

{{blah blah blah}}- Atemu to other Yamis (mind link)

{{{Blah blah blah}}}- Bakura to other Yamis (mind link)

{{{{blah blah blah}}}}- Marik to other Yamis (mind link)

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9- Another Strike

It had been several days since everyone had agreed to work together to try and save Yugi, but they had come up with nothing.

"This is hopeless!" Joey exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Come on, Joey. We can't give up." Tristan said.

"Why not? We haven't figured out how to help Yugi. I mean, talking to him is the logical way, but he'll kill us if we get close, so that's obviously out. What else is there for us to do?" Joey asked.

The group sighed.

"I hate to admit it, but he has a point." Bakura said.

"What now?" Marik asked.

"I am going stir crazy in this place. We have been holed up in here for way too long." Malik said.

"He's right on that." Tea agreed.

Ryou looked over Atemu. "What do you think?" Ryou asked.

Atemu sighed. "As bad of an idea as it is to leave the mansion, I agree. We all need to get out of this house before we all lose our minds and end up killing each other." Atemu said.

"But where?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, why not the mall? Yugi is less likely to try and attack a mall full of people." Seto said.

"That's a good point." Joey agreed.

"All right. But we have to stay close together. I don't want to run the chance of Yugi showing up and getting to any of us if we separate." Atemu said.

The group agreed.

Atemu then used his Shadow magic t teleport them out of the mansion.

* * *

Yugi looked up. "So, they left the mansion." Yugi said.

Yugi stood up with a smirk on his face.

"This is the perfect opportunity to strike." Yugi said.

Yugi's smirk then faded as he sensed something.

"He's here." Yugi said softly.

The darkness in Yugi's eyes seemed to fade away a bit, and amethyst was shown.

"Why did he come?" Yugi asked.

**No, Master! Do not be fooled! He is not here for you!**

"He doesn't know any of them." Yugi protested.

**He is still against you! He will side with those people once he learns everything! He will never remain loyal to you just as Atemu and the others did not! You cannot trust him at all! Do not be fooled by the feeling you have for him!**

"But he's my-" Yugi trialed off.

**Do not trust him!**

Yugi's eyes then turned dark again. "Yes. I cannot trust him. I must go and find them." Yugi said before he vanished in purple smoke.

* * *

Atemu had teleported them to an alley that was close to the mall.

"All right. Let's go." Joey said, starting to go in.

Seto grabbed Joey and pulled him back. "We stay together, puppy. Don't ever forget that while we're here." Seto said.

"Oh. Right." Joey said.

The group then headed into the mall.

"It is good to be out again." Tea said.

"Come on! We have some shopping to catch up on." Serenity said.

"I agree." Tea said.

All the men the groaned.

"The pains we have to go through." Tristan said.

"Oh, come on, Tristan. I make it worth your while." Tea said.

Tristan smirked at that thought. "Yeah. You do." Tristan said.

"Okay. I most certainly do not need to know anymore." Seto said.

"And you'd better not be doing that with Mokuba." Joey said.

"Joey, I think you'd know if something was going on between me and Mokuba. We hear you and Seto go at it all the time." Serenity said.

Joey and Seto both blushed.

The others laughed.

"Come on, guys. Let's get to shopping." Tea said.

The group started off.

The first stop was a clothing store.

"Oh, look at this." Serenity said, holding up a tight shirt.

Joey jerked it from her. "Not until you're eighteen." Joey replied.

Tea took it from Joey. "She was talking about me." Tea said.

"Oh." Joey said.

"I can't believe this." Atemu muttered.

"At least you aren't here because your boyfriend loves to shop, too." Bakura said, standing beside him with his arms crossed.

"Well, I can sympathize with Atemu in this one." Yami said.

"So, what now?" Marik asked.

"We wait." Atemu said.

"I mean Yugi. We have to keep thinking." Marik said.

"If we could figure out how Yugi got Yami's Shadow magic, we might be able to figure out how to get the Shadow magic back into Yami." Atemu said.

"Any ideas?" Yami asked.

"Not a one." Atemu said.

"Maybe the Shadow magic acted on its own." Yami said.

The other three Yamis turned to look at him.

"What?" Bakura asked.

"Well, think about. Shadow magic has a mind of its own, but it's also directly linked to the Light magic the Hikaris possess." Yami said.

"I'm following so far." Marik said.

"What if my Shadow magic sensed the pain that Yugi was in? Sensed how I was not protecting Yugi? I'm thinking that maybe the Shadow magic saw that I wasn't doing my job of protecting Yugi, so it, on its own accord, left me and went to Yugi. If I wouldn't protect him, then it would." Yami said.

"That's plausible." Atemu said.

"Why did he go out of control then?" Marik asked.

"The emotions. Yugi has a whole pile of negative emotions, and the Shadow magic feeds on it. It might have used Yugi's negative feelings to feed itself, and because a lot of Yugi's feeling centered on Yami abandoning him, no offense intended, it reacted in the only way Shadow magic does. It wanted revenge." Bakura said.

"No offense taken, and are you suggesting that Yugi doesn't really want revenge on me?" Yami asked.

"I think Yugi wants you to understand the pain he has been in. I just don't think he wanted the pain to be physical." Atemu said.

"In any case, even if we're right, that means that we can't get the Shadow magic back." Bakura said.

Ryou walked over to them and started to say something, but froze.

Across the way, Yugi stood, watching him with impassive eyes. Someone walked in front of Yugi and he was gone.

"Ry, you okay?" Bakura asked, noticing Ryou's expression.

"I just saw Yugi." Ryou whispered.

"Where?" Atemu asked, looking around.

"He's gone now, but I saw him." Ryou said.

"He's here?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. The odd thing is he didn't look angry or revengeful." Ryou said.

"How did he look?" Atemu asked.

"Kind of impassive." Ryou said.

"That doesn't sound like him. At least not after the way he has been acting lately." Marik said, scanning the area.

"Okay. We aren't going to alarm the others, but remain alert. Ryou, let Malik know." Atemu said.

Ryou nodded. [Malik.] Ryou said.

[[Yeah.]] Malik said.

[Yugi's here, but we're keeping it low key.] Ryou said.

[[You sure?]] Malik asked.

Ryou told him everything.

[[Okay. I'll keep my mouth shut and my eyes open.]] Malik said.

[That's all we're doing for now.] Ryou said before ending the conversation.

* * *

Yugi stood on the building opposite the mall.

"So, they decided to come here, did they?" Yugi asked.

Yugi clenched his fists tightly.

"Damn them! I can't attack a building full of people! I'll have to wait!" Yugi said.

**Yes, Master. Wait. The opportunity will arrive to get your revenge if we wait for the perfect moment.**

"Yes. It will." Yugi said.

* * *

The group was sitting at a table in the food court.

Serenity and Tea were talking about the purchases they had made.

Joey and Seto were in argument once again.

Tristan and Mokuba were talking about meaningless things.

Atemu, Yami, Bakura, Marik, Ryou, and Malik were on the lookout for Yugi.

{Are you sure about this?} Yami asked.

The four Yamis had quickly learned to use the mind link between them to communicate, and they were using it to their advantage now.

{{{I know Ryou. He had to have seen him.}}} Bakura replied.

{{I have to agree with Yami. If Yugi was here, I thought that we would have sensed him by now.}} Atemu said.

{{{{Maybe he just hasn't attacked yet. He might not be planning to with all the people here.}}}} Marik said.

{{We'd better hope so, or we're going to have to try and fight Yugi without allowing people to find out that we have magic. That would case a scene that not one of us wants to have to deal with now or ever.}} Atemu said.

Tea laughed at something Serenity said. She picked up her drink to take a drink. She froze mid-sip.

Yugi stood across from her. His arms were folded across his chest, and he was looking at them with an expressionless face. When someone walked right in front him, he was gone.

"Oh my god!" Tea gasped.

"What?" Tristan asked.

"I just saw Yugi." Tea said.

"Are you sure?' Seto asked, immediately tensing.

"I'm sure that it was him. I just know it." Tea said, shaking.

Tristan wrapped an arm around her. "Don't worry, Tea. He won't try anything will all these people in the mall." Tristan said.

"He won't, right?" Mokuba asked.

"I don't know. I would hope not, but we can't be sure." Atemu said.

"I think we'd better go." Atemu said.

The group got up and quickly left the mall. They were going to go to the alley again, but there were people standing in it.

"What do we do now?" Serenity asked.

"There's a park near here. We can go there and teleport to the mansion from there." Seto said.

The group quickly headed to the park.

"Let's get out of here before Yugi does something." Joey said.

Atemu, Bakura, and Marik all used their Shadow magic to teleport themselves from the park to the Kaiba mansion.

However, a magical force interfered with the teleportation, and the three Yamis were unable to get them to the mansion.

Everyone crashed down into the ground.

"Ow! What the bloody hell did you three do?" Ryou asked as he sat up, rubbing his back.

"I don't know. Something interfered with the teleportation." Atemu said.

The group looked around and saw that they were on some kind of platform.

"Where are we?" Tea asked.

"It's some kind of platform on the top of a tower." Seto said. He stood up and started to walk around it. He then noticed something. "Take a look." Seto said.

Everyone looked and saw that they could see the entire city from where they were.

"So, who brought us here and why?" Tristan asked.

"I did."

The group turned around and saw Yugi standing there.

"Yugi?"

"Who else?" Yugi asked, obviously annoyed.

"You interfered with the teleportation?" Bakura exclaimed.

Yugi smirked. "It's amazing what can be done with Shadow magic. I now see why you and Marik like using your Shadow magic so much." Yugi said.

"Okay. We may do some crazy stuff with our Shadow magic, but we don't go to the extremes that you have." Marik said.

"Doesn't matter." Yugi said. He formed a sword Shadow magic in his hand and faced them.

"Seto, use your Shadow magic and teleport everyone back to the mansion." Atemu said as he formed a sword made of Shadow magic.

Bakura and Marik followed Atemu's lead and formed swords of their own, prepared to fight with Yugi once again.

Ryou and Malik formed Sais out of their Light magic to help the Yamis in their fight.

"Ryou. Malik. I want you two to go on back to the mansion with them." Atemu said.

"Why?" Malik asked.

"Because Yugi got through the shield at the mansion once before. I don't think he can again, but we can't take the chance. Go. If Yugi manages to break through the shield, I want you two to be there to help Seto and Joey." Atemu said.

"Sure thing." Ryou said.

"Go." Bakura hissed at Seto.

Seto growled. He didn't like being told what to do. "Listen, thief. I'm not-" Seto started.

"Seto, if you don't get your ass in gear right now and get the hell out of here, you're going to have to deal with my foot up your ass!" Atemu growled.

From Atemu, Seto could handle it since he did have a bit of fear from Atemu, although he would never admit it. "All right." Seto said.

Yugi's smirk had never left his face.

Seto tried to teleport them out of the area, but soon found out that he couldn't.

"Seto, go!" Atemu ordered.

"I tried! I can't teleport!" Seto said.

That wasn't good.

Atemu, Marik, and Bakura all tried as well and realized that they weren't able to teleport out of there, either.

Yami knew. "It's Yugi! Somehow he's stopping you from using the teleporting capability of the Shadow magic!" Yami said.

"Now aren't we the smart one?" Yugi said sarcastically. He snapped his fingers.

Around the tower, a purple aura was now seen.

"What is that?" Mokuba asked.

"It's a shield made of Shadow magic. Unfortunately for us, it's supercharged." Atemu said.

"Does that mean you can't use your Shadow magic?" Serenity asked, scared.

"No. We can use it." Atemu said.

"They just can't teleport out of here, meaning that they're stuck until I put the shield down." Yugi said.

"Now what?" Tristan asked.

"Start hoping we can stop him." Atemu said.

"Joey and I can help." Seto said.

"Seto, you help us. Joey, hang back and act as backup with Ryou and Malik." Atemu said.

Joey started to protest.

One glare from Seto had him shutting up.

Joey knew that his wasn't the time to argue and decided to just do what Atemu told him to do.

"Well, it's four against one. That doesn't seem fair." Yugi said.

"Like we care about fairness in this." Seto said as he formed a sword from Shadow magic.

"I was referring to it not being fair for you." Yugi replied.

Atemu knew that this was a bad idea, but he knew there was no other way to deal with the situation now. He charged at Yugi.

Bakura, Marik, and Seto followed his lead.

Yugi blocked Atemu's sword and forced it back before he turned and kicked Seto in the chest, knocking him backwards. Bakura struck at Yugi, but Yugi jumped up and flipped over Bakura. Marik struck out at Yugi, but Yugi flipped backwards again, and Marik's sword cut a part of Bakura's hair.

"Marik! Watch it! You almost decapitated me!" Bakura barked.

Seto tried to strike Yugi, but Yugi ducked out of the way and jumped up. He kicked Seto before he turned and blocked Atemu's word. Yugi forced Atemu back before he rammed his elbow in Atemu's chest, knocking the wind out of Atemu. Yugi then kicked Atemu in the chest and threw him backwards.

'Damn it! How are we supposed to defeat him?' Seto asked himself.

Yugi turned and brought his sword down at Seto. Seto managed to block the sword, but Yugi brought his knee up and into Seto's stomach, knocking the wind out of Seto. Yugi then kicked Seto in the face, throwing him backwards onto his back.

"Seto!" Joey shouted.

Marik and Bakura charged at Yugi at the same time.

Bakura brought his sword down at Yugi, but Yugi flipped backwards out of the way of the sword. Marik jumped up over Bakura and brought his sword down at Yugi. Yugi blocked Marik's sword with his own sword before he forced Marik backwards. Yugi then struck out at Marik, but Marik managed to move back out of the way.

Bakura ran at Yugi and sent a ball of Shadow magic at him, but Yugi merely jumped up out of the way. Marik tried the same attack from behind, but Yugi jumped up out of the way, and Marik's attack went speeding right at Bakura. Bakura dove to the side out of the way, and the attack hit the ground.

"Damn. They haven't even made a scratch." Malik said.

Ryou had watched and now he knew. "We're screwed." Ryou said.

"What? Why?" Joey asked, looking over at Ryou.

"Yugi could have already taken them down. He's toying with them. He's not even trying." Ryou said.

"Are you sure?" Yami asked.

A moment later, Yugi threw out his arm, and he released a powerful wave of Shadow magic.

The attack hit not only Marik and Bakura, but Atemu and Seto as well. All four Yamis crashed into the ground hard.

"I'm sure." Ryou said.

The four Lights prepared themselves for a fight.

"Look. I'll just go with Yugi willingly so you guys don't get hurt or killed. It's me he's after anyway. At least that will end this." Yami said.

"No, Yami. You can't do that." Tea said, holding onto her friend's arm.

"She's right. That's suicide." Tristan agreed.

"Look. I'm the one he's after. This will end if I go with him." Yami said.

"No, Yami. Yugi's out for more than that. He might manage to kill you, but it won't end there. If Yugi were himself, he wouldn't want you to die." Ryou said.

"Uh, guys." Joey said.

"Besides, Atemu wouldn't forgive us if we let anything happen to you." Malik said.

"Yeah. He may act like he hates you, but he doesn't want you to die, even if it is mainly because it's what Yugi wants." Ryou said.

"I know that, but this is mostly my fault." Yami said.

"Guys!" Joey said.

"What?" Malik snapped.

Joey was staring ahead, and the others released Yugi was watching them closely.

A moment later, a wave of Shadow magic hit them, knocking them all over the place.

Everyone groaned.

"Okay. This is getting old." Tristan said, wincing at the pain coursing through him.

"We have to stop him." Ryou said.

"I'd love to know how when you can't even lay a finger on him." Tristan said.

"Would you rather be dead?" Ryou asked.

Yami tried to rise up, but a foot on his back forced him back down.

"This is over, Yami." Yugi said.

Yami cringed at the emotionless tone Yugi's voice had taken on.

Yugi reached down and grabbed Yami, forcing him to his feet.

Yami looked at Yugi. "Yugi, please stop this." Yami said.

"Why should I? You never stopped." Yugi said before he slammed Yami backwards into the small building that housed the entranceway to the tower.

Yami winced at the pain.

"I have had it with you. I am not going to let this continue." Yugi said.

"Yugi, please. I know that you are angry with me. I get that." Yami said.

"No, Yami. I don't think that you do get it. You don't have the first clue as to what I have been going through. No one does." Yugi growled.

Before Yami was able to say anything, Yugi's hand was around Yami's throat, squeezing.

Yami brought his hands up, trying to stop Yugi.

"I suffered because of you. I screamed for you to come and help me, but you didn't! You let those men beat me! You let them rape me! You couldn't have cared less!" Yugi shouted.

Yami was shocked by this, but he wasn't able to focus on it because of the fact that he was struggling to breathe.

Malik's eyes widened in horror. "Yugi! Stop!" Malik shouted.

Everyone looked and saw this.

Atemu tried to get up, but couldn't. He was too exhausted. Despite how angry he was, he couldn't let this happen. Regardless of the mistakes Yami had made, Atemu knew that he still loved his brother and that he couldn't let him die. He knew that Yugi wouldn't want that, either. Not if he was thinking clearly. "Yugi! Stop this! You don't want this!" Atemu shouted.

* * *

From across the way, a figure was watching the battle.

"Damn it! I didn't think that Yugi would be this out of control!" the figure said.

He watched as all this happened. He had hoped that he wouldn't have to do this, but he now knew that he had no other choice.

"I have to stop all this before it's too late." the figure said.

* * *

Yami was having trouble breathing now. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last.

"You let them ruin my life. While you were off living your life happy and carefree, I was crying every night. I lived in fear of what may happen. I was so afraid that those three men would come back that I never felt safe. You never let me feel safe. You were never there when I needed you. You broke every promise you ever made to me, and you never once cared." Yugi growled.

Yami had known all this, but hearing it from Yugi made it hurt a thousand times worse.

"I can't believe that I actually trusted you. I believed you cared about me. Hell, at one time, I thought you were supposed to be in love with me, but you went to Tea the first second you had! You never loved me! I don't think you ever cared what happened to me as long as you had what you wanted! You were free, and all you needed was to be free of me! You had to get rid of me! You didn't want me to be alive! You needed me to be dead so that I no longer tied you down! You let all that happen to me because you hoped that I would die!" Yugi yelled.

Yami was stunned. He couldn't believe that Yugi thought he had wanted Yugi to die. He couldn't understand where Yugi was coming from, but Yami was having even more trouble breathing now. He knew that he wouldn't last much longer.

"It's over, Yami. You're going to pay the price for everything that you did to me." Yugi hissed.

"YUGI! STOP!"

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Someone new comes in.

R&R.


	10. Brother

Here's the next chapter.

[[[blah blah blah]]]- Heba to other Hikaris (mind link)

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 10- Brother

Yugi instantly froze. He knew that voice all too well, but he couldn't believe that he was here right now.

Yami was shocked when Yugi's grip on him lessened and was even more shocked when Yugi let go of him completely. Yami fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air as he had a hand around his throat, thankful to be able to breathe normally again.

Atemu noticed this and motioned for Yami to get out of there.

Yami glanced up at Yugi, who was stock still. Taking the chance, Yami moved away from Yugi and got over to where Atemu was with Marik, Bakura, and Seto.

"You okay?" Seto asked.

"I've been better, but I suppose I could have been worse, too." Yami said. He looked over at Yugi. "Now what?" Yami asked.

"I don't know." Atemu said.

Joey, Tristan, Tea, Ryou, Malik, Serenity, and Mokuba all made their way over to them.

"Not to state the obvious, but should we be trying to get out of here?" Tea asked, wanting to get out of that area before Yugi came after them again.

"We would love to do that, Tea, but you seem to be forgetting one minor detail." Bakura said.

"What?" Tea asked.

"That damned shield Yugi has around the tower prevents us from leaving!" Bakura hissed.

"You don't have to act like that!" Tristan shot back.

"Not the time!" Seto growled.

Meanwhile, Yugi was frozen.

'He did come here. I knew that. I can't believe I missed this. I-I don't know what to do now.' Yugi thought.

**Do not fret, Master. We are here to help you. We will aid you while he is here. We will not allow him to fool you as the others did. You have our word on that.**

'What can I do? What should I do? Maybe I can trust him.' Yugi thought.

**NO! You must not trust him! He will only betray you as the others have! We are the only ones you can trust!**

"Yugi!"

Yugi looked up and found himself facing a person in the shadows.

Yami, Atemu, and the others looked up as well.

"Who is that?" Tristan asked.

"I don't know. I can't see them very well." Bakura said.

Atemu struggled up to his feet, and Bakura, Marik, and Seto followed his lead.

"I sure hope that that is not someone who plans on helping Yugi with all of this." Serenity sad fearfully.

"No. I don't think they are." Yami said.

"How do you know?" Joey asked.

"That's the same voice that yelled before when Yugi dropped me. Whoever it is told Yugi to stop." Yami said.

"Doesn't mean they are on our side." Bakura said.

"Wouldn't they have just let Yugi kill Yami if they wanted him dead, though?" Mokuba asked.

"Unless whoever this is wants to kill Yami themselves." Marik said.

"You're a real pessimist, you know that?" Malik said, looking at his boyfriend and Yami.

Marik shrugged. "It's the truth." Marik said.

Ryou looked over at the figure. 'What's this feeling?' Ryou asked. He looked over at Malik. "Malik, do you feel that?" Ryou asked.

Malik looked over. "Feel what?" Malik asked.

"Concentrate on the link." Ryou said.

Malik did, and his eyes widened. "No way!" Malik exclaimed.

"What?" Yami asked.

Yugi was oblivious to the conversation going on. He was concentrating on the person in front of him. Yugi swallowed thickly. "H-H-Heba?" Yugi asked lowly.

Slowly, the figure walked out of the shadows.

This person looked like an exact duplicate of Yugi although he had tanned skin like Atemu, Malik, and Marik. He wore a pair of black pants with a tank top on. He had on boots and wore the collar around his neck like Yugi did.

The boy, Heba, smile. "Yes. It's me." Heba said.

The group gasped in shock.

"Who the hell is that?" Joey asked.

"I'd rather know why he looks so much like Yugi." Seto said.

Ryou's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "That must be it!" Ryou said.

All eyes turned to him.

"What are you talking about, Ryou?" Bakura said.

"Tea and I both thought that we saw Yugi in the mall, but maybe it as this other guy we saw. It would be an easy mistake." Ryou said.

"He makes an excellent point." Marik said.

"It would also explain why we never sensed any Shadow magic in the mall. Whoever this is doesn't have it." Seto said.

"But who is he, and how does he know Yugi?" Serenity asked.

"That's an excellent question." Ryou said.

Yami looked over at Atemu. "Atemu, he looks like-" Yami started.

"I know." Atemu said quietly.

"What?" Tea asked.

"He looks exactly like Prince Heba from ancient Egypt five thousand years ago." Bakura answered solemnly.

"From your reign, Yami?" Tea asked.

Yami nodded.

"Who was Prince Heba? A brother of yours?" Tristan asked.

"No. Not exactly." Yami said.

"Heba was my husband. He died a year before the deal with Zorc came. He died of what is now known as tuberculosis." Atemu said.

"And he looks just like him?" Serenity asked.

"Yes. Whoever this is, he looks exactly like Heba." Atemu answered.

Yugi wasn't sure what to think. "How are you here? Why are you here?" Yugi asked.

Heba smiled. "Well, I flew over here on a plane, for starters. As for why I'm here, it's because of you, Yugi. You're why I'm here." Heba said.

Yugi shook his head. "No. You shouldn't be here." Yugi said.

"Yes, I should. Five months ago, when you called me and told me everything that had been happening, everything that happened that night, I knew that I should not have listened to you and just come on out here, but I decided that I would listen to you for once in my life." Heba said. He gave an ironic smile. "Sadly, the one time I do listen to you is the one time that I should not have listened to you." Heba said.

"This isn't your fight, Heba." Yugi said.

"It is my fight, Yugi. You are my brother, and I am here because of you. I want to help you, Yugi. I know what kind of pain you are in. I heard it all in your voice when we talked. You could never hide anything from me. You know that." Heba said.

Yugi looked at Heba. "Why did you bother to come?" Yugi asked.

Heba took several steps toward Yugi and ended up right at Yugi.

Yugi never made a move away from Heba or tried to stop Heba from getting any closer.

Once right at Yugi, Heba raised a hand and put on Yugi's cheek. "You are my brother, Yugi. You are my twin brother. I love you, and there is nothing that you can say or do to make me change my mind. I will always be here when you need me, Yugi. I came here to help you." Heba said.

Yugi's dark eyes slowly lightened, revealing a bit of the amethyst that had once resided there.

"How did you know where to come?" Yugi asked.

Heba smiled. "You're not the only Hikari in the family." Heba said.

Yugi understood. "You are a Hikari as well." Yugi said.

"Yes. A Hikari without a Yami." Heba said.

"Better no Yami than one that hurts and betrays you." Yugi said.

"Yugi, please stop this. You are better than this. You are not a killer. You are not evil. You are not vengeful. You are not hateful. This is not you." Heba said.

"I died that night." Yugi said.

"No. You didn't die that night. You were hurt. You destroyed. You were broken, but you never died. I know that." Heba said.

"How do you know that?" Yugi asked.

"Because I can see a part of you still there. I know you had the chance to kill Yami, and I know that you didn't take the chance to kill him. Deep down, you don't want to kill Yami." Heba said.

"Yes, I do." Yugi said.

"Then why didn't you?" Heba asked.

"Because I was weak then. I know what to do now." Yugi said.

"Is it you, or the Shadow magic that knows?" Heba asked.

Yugi was silent.

"Yugi, you can't let the Shadow magic control you. I know that you are hurting from all this. I know that Yami hurt you badly. I know that you want him to pay for what he's done. Hell, I want him to pay for what he let happen, but this is not the way to go about it." Heba said.

"What am I supposed to do then?" Yugi asked as tears filled his eyes. "Let Yami go off and live his life as if nothing happen. Let him be happy while I'm crying myself to sleep every night. Let him feel safe while I feel haunted, scared, and terrified. Let him live the life I wish I could live. One where I am happy and unscarred." Yugi said as the tears fell.

Heba wiped the tears away. "I'm not saying trust him. I'm not saying forgive him. All I am saying is that wanting someone to die, wishing for their death, trying to kill them, is not who you are, Yugi. Deep down, you know that." Heba said.

Yugi took a deep breath, trying desperately to stop the sobs that wanted to get out.

"Yugi, you are not alone. I am here. I won't leave you again. I swear to that. I am staying for good. I am staying in Japan. I will be here to help you. I will support you." Heba said.

"Until you find your Yami." Yugi said.

"No, Yugi. Even if I find him, I won't leave you. I am going to be here for you." Heba said.

Yugi was silent. His eyes were turning more and more amethyst as if the darkness was slowly dissipating.

**No! Do not listen to him! You know he speaks only lies! He will leave you the moment he finds his Yami! You will mean nothing to him! Do you not see? He distracts you from fighting those who have harmed you! He has sided with them!**

Yugi looked at Heba. "Why did you come back now?" Yugi asked.

"Because I knew that you needed me." Heba said.

"Because you wanted to save them." Yugi said, his eyes starting to darken again.

Heba looked at Yugi and felt his heart clench as the darkness filled his brother's eyes once more. "Yugi, please. I stopped you from killing them because I know that that is not what you want. I know that. You don't want to kill, Yugi." Heba said.

"So I'm just supposed to let them get away with everything that they have put me through? I'm supposed to forget it all?" Yugi asked.

"No, Yugi. Don't forget what happened, but killing them won't solve anything. You know that." Heba said.

"I'm not so sure, Heba. Right now, I see that you are protecting the people who have destroyed my life." Yugi said.

Heba now knew that reaching Yugi would be a lot harder than he had hoped it would be. "Yugi, please. Don't do this. You are my brother. I love you. You know that you are the most important thing in my life." Heba said.

"And yet, you protect them." Yugi said.

Heba took a step back. "I'm protecting them for you, Yugi. I know that this isn't what you want. You are not really like this." Heba said.

"Heba, the person you once knew has long since been destroyed. If you want to be my brother, then stay out of my way. If you choose to protect them, then I have no choice, but to consider you my enemy." Yugi said.

Heba had feared this ultimatum was coming. He knew that he would be forced to protect them, and he had known that by choosing to protect them, he would most likely become Yugi's enemy in the process. 'Damn you, Yami! You let things get so out of hand that it has lead to this. I am so going to murder you for all this!' Heba mentally growled, ready to kill the man that he partially blamed for his brother's current predicament.

"What is it, Heba?" Yugi asked.

Heba knew what Yugi wanted to know. "Yugi, you are my brother, and I love you. I always will. Nothing will ever change that." Heba said. A white light glowed around his hands. "I don't want to fight you, but if it is the only way to stop you from killing them, then I will fight you, Yugi." Heba said. A pair of Sais formed in his hands.

"So be it." Yugi said. He formed a sword from Shadow magic and struck out at Heba.

Heba used the Sais to block the attack.

The others were shocked.

"Hold on! How the hell was he able to do that? I thought that only Yamis and Hikaris could form weapons from thin air like that!" Tristan said.

Malik whacked Tristan in the back of his head.

"Ow!" Tristan exclaimed.

"We don't form them from thin air! We form our weapons from our magic, dummy!" Malik snapped.

"But he's right. This person is a Hikari." Atemu said.

"That's what I figured he was. I could sense that he was a fellow Hikari." Ryou said.

"How did he get Yugi to stop for a time, though?" Serenity asked.

"They know each other, and I would hazard a guess that that is Heba." Ryou said.

"What?" Bakura asked.

"Okay. No offense meant to you, Atemu, but Heba would be dead." Serenity said.

"Yeah. It has been five thousand years." Seto said.

"I'm not talking about Atemu's Heba. I'm talking about Yugi's Heba." Ryou said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yami asked.

No one understood what Ryou was talking about.

"Ryou, once more. With clarity." Malik said.

"Okay. After Yugi started living with us, we would talk a lot. He told me that he has a twin brother named Heba Mutou who lives in Egypt. Yugi mentioned they were identical twins." Ryou said. He motioned to where the two were fighting. "I have a feeling that that is Heba, Yugi's twin brother." Ryou explained.

"Wow. Talk about a coincidence." Bakura said.

Yugi brought his sword down at Heba, but Heba blocked Yugi's sword with his Sais. Heba then forced Yugi back and struck out with one of his Sais, but Yugi ducked out of the way. He went at Heba and rammed his elbow into Heba's stomach, causing Heba to stumble backwards. Yugi then struck out with his sword, but Heba ducked and rolled to the side out of the way before he jumped up and kicked at Yugi. Yugi dove to the side and then charged at Heba, bringing his sword down at Heba. Heba held his Sais up and blocked Yugi's sword.

"Yugi, please. We can figure this out if you would just stop." Heba said.

"No. I am done waiting for them to care. It's been nine and a half months, and they never once acted like they cared about me." Yugi spat.

"I know that, Yugi, but this isn't the way to deal with it! You can't just kill people like this! It's not who you are!" Heba said.

"It is now." Yugi said. He then forced Heba back before he sent a ball of Shadow magic at Heba.

Heba moved to the side out of the way, and the attack hit the ground. He then formed a ball of Shadow magic in his hand and sent it at Yugi.

Yugi, however, sent a ball of Shadow magic and destroyed the attack Heba had sent.

Heba growled. [[[I can't believe that this is happening. I can't believe that I am choosing to protect those idiots over helping my own brother. Yami had better hope Yugi injures me to the point that I lose my memory because when I get my hands on him, he is a dead man!]]] Heba thought, thinking of all the different ways he could kill Yami. He then went back at Yugi.

Ryou looked at Malik.

Malik looked at Ryou.

Both gulped.

"What's wrong with you two?" Bakura asked.

"Yami, I hate to tell you this, but I think you are a dead man." Malik said.

"Why?" Yami asked.

"You're not going to let Yugi kill him." Tea said.

"Not why we're saying that." Ryou said.

"Then why?" Tristan demanded.

Atemu looked from the fighting brothers back to the two Lights. He grimaced. "Ryou, do me a favor and just answer my next questions with a yes or a no." Atemu said.

"Sure thing." Ryou said.

"Is that the reincarnation of my husband from five thousand years ago?" Atemu asked.

"Yes." Ryou said.

"Does he have his memories of ancient Egypt?" Atemu asked.

"Yep." Malik said.

"Is he Yugi's twin brother?" Atemu asked.

"Yes." Ryou said.

"Now for the biggie. Does he know everything that has been happening with Yugi?" Atemu asked.

"Yes. From Yami's starting to date Tea right up to now." Malik said.

"Yami, you're on your own." Atemu said.

"What? Why?" Serenity asked.

"Because I am a dead man." Yami said.

"And Atemu?" Malik said.

"What?" Atemu asked.

"I think that we have found your Hikari." Ryou said.

Yugi sent a wave of Shadow magic at Heba.

Heba barely managed to get out of the way in time. He look up only to see that Yugi was gone. 'What?' Heba asked himself.

A blast hit Heba and sent him crashing to the ground. Heba winced.

Yugi stood over Heba. "I never thought that my own brother would turn his back on me." Yugi said angrily.

"Yugi, I-" Heba started.

"You chose to protect them, which makes you the enemy." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I don't choose them over you. I choose them because that is what you really want. You don't want this, Yugi. The Shadow magic is clouding your judgment." Heba said.

"The Shadow magic is allowing me to see things clearly for the first time." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I-" Heba started.

"No more, Heba. The next time we meet, family will mean absolutely nothing to me. You will be the enemy, and I am not going to hold back." Yugi said. He then vanished in a cloud of purple smoke.

Heba leaned back and sighed. 'Great. Now, my brother has been turned against me. I am going to murder that man if it is the last thing I do.' Heba thought.

"Heba, are you okay?" Ryou asked.

Heba looked up at him. "Yeah. I'm not hurt. It's my heart that's wounded." Heba said.

Ryou and Malik helped Heba up.

"How did you know who I was?" Heba asked.

"Yugi told me about you. I'm Ryou Bakura, and this is Malik Ishtar." Ryou said.

"Oh. Yugi mentioned you both to me. I'm glad that Yugi had you two to help through all this." Heba said.

"He's our friend. We were glad to do it." Ryou said.

"So, we've got another runt on our hands." Bakura said.

Heba looked back. "And you must be Bakura, Ryou's Yami." Heba said.

Bakura blinked. "How did you know that?" Bakura asked.

"Because Yugi told me that you always called him runt, half-pint, or something else referring to his height." Heba answered.

"Well, you are both short." Bakura said.

Heba shook his head.

"I ignore him. We all do." Marik said.

"Hey!" Bakura protested.

"Ignore them both." Malik said.

"Thanks for the advice." Heba said.

"So, are you sure you're not hurt?" Malik asked.

"No. I'm not hurt." Heba said.

"We're glad that you're okay." Atemu said.

Heba then looked at Atemu and felt like he was looking into the past. He knew that Atemu was the man he had been married to back in ancient Egypt, although he didn't know how he was back.

It became silent.

Heba smiled. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Até?" Heba asked.

"Five thousand years." Atemu replied.

Bakura and Marik started to act like they were going to make gagging noises until Ryou and Malik elbowed them in the stomach, telling them with their eyes not to interrupt the reunion.

Atemu walked up to Heba. "It's been far too long, Heba. I've missed you." Atemu said.

"I've missed you, too." Heba said.

Atemu couldn't resist. He wrapped his arms around Heba and hugged him.

Heba happily hugged him back. "I'm glad that I've found you again, Até." Heba said.

"So am I, Little Star." Atemu said.

"Little Star?" Bakura asked.

Ryou whacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Bakura exclaimed.

Heba ignored Bakura and looked up at Atemu. "How are you back?" Heba asked.

"It's a bit of a story. The short version is that after Yugi won the Ceremonial duel, Yami decided to stay, and the gods allowed me to stay as well since I had given my life during the battle with Zorc." Atemu said.

"Well, I'm glad that you're here." Heba said.

"As am I." Atemu said.

"All right! Enough with all this mushy crap! I can't take it anymore!" Marik exclaimed.

Heba sighed. "They're right. We have other things that we have to deal with." Heba said.

"I know." Atemu said.

Atemu and Heba now felt as if they were complete. They knew that now that they had found each other, their hearts no longer felt like there was a hole in them.

Bakura then started to look around. "Hey. Where are the others?" Bakura asked.

"Seto took the others on back to the mansion since we were able to. They should be safe inside the shield." Atemu said.

"Why'd they go back?" Malik asked.

"They just decided to go back." Atemu said.

"Liar." Heba said.

"What?" Atemu asked, looking at his newfound Hikari.

"You had Seto take them back to the mansion because you were afraid of what I would do to my dear brother-in-law when I got my hands on him." Heba said.

"Okay. Maybe that is why." Atemu said.

"Atemu, there is no way in hell that you are going to keep me from giving that man a piece of my mind! After all that he has done, I think that I have a right to let him know exactly what I think of him!" Heba snapped angrily.

"Um, Heba. You know that us Hikaris have a link now." Ryou said.

"So?" Heba asked.

"We heard your different ideas on how to go about killing Yami." Malik said. He smirked and added, "You had some great ideas."

Heba sighed. "That was me dealing with my anger. I swear that I have no plans on killing Yami." Heba said.

"Darn." Bakura said.

Atemu looked at Heba. He knew Heba rather well, and he knew that Heba was never one who had good control over his anger. "Heba, you and Yugi are as different as night and day. You'd rip Yami apart limb from limb." Atemu said.

"So, dismemberment is out?" Heba asked.

Atemu glared.

Heba sighed. "I promise that I won't kill him. I won't promise that I won't hurt him in some way, though." Heba said.

"How do I know that you won't end up killing him?" Atemu asked.

"I promise I won't, and if you think I'm going too far, stop me." Heba said.

Atemu sighed. 'He knows I don't have a death wish.' Atemu thought.

"You've got to let him have his piece." Bakura said.

"Fine. Let's go." Atemu said. 'May the gods have mercy on Yami.' Atemu thought.

Bakura used his Shadow magic to teleport them out of the area.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The group gets a few answers.

The poll is still up. I will take it down some time today. So, vote if you haven't.

R&R.


	11. Some Answers

Here's the next chapter.

[[blah blah blah]]- Malik to other Hikaris (mind link)

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 11- Some Answers

Yami was pacing frantically in the living room of the Kaiba mansion. "Okay. I think I need to flee the country. That's my only chance." Yami said.

"Yami." Seto said.

"What am I saying? Heba will hunt me down and rip me apart if Yugi doesn't get to me first." Yami said.

"Yami." Seto said again.

"Maybe I should let Bakura and Marik do whatever they want with me. That would be less painful than anything Heba has in mind. It might be quicker, too." Yami said.

"Yami!" Seto shouted.

Yami whirled around. "What? Where is he?" Yami exclaimed, looking scared out of his mind.

"What is your deal, man?" Joey asked.

"Yeah. Atemu and the others have already said that they aren't going to kill you." Tristan added.

"I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about Heba!" Yami said.

"Why?" Tea asked.

"Because I remember what Heba was like five thousand years ago in ancient Egypt. I would rather face Atemu in a full-blown rage over facing Heba's anger. He's Yugi's brother! He'll kill me for everything that is happening right now!" Yami said, getting panicky.

"It can't be that bad." Serenity said.

"Yeah. It could." Seto said.

The others looked at him.

"Trust me. Back then, every person in the palace was terrified of Heba. Honestly, I don't think that there is a person who would want to have to face him." Seto said.

"YAMI!"

Yami jumped practically six feet in the air at the shout.

The others looked around, wondering where he was.

"Oh no." Yami said.

Seto looked at Yami. "Good luck." Seto said. He then stood up and dove behind the couch.

The double doors to the room were thrown open with a loud bang, and Heba was standing there with a look of pure anger in his eyes.

Yami stepped back. "Heba, please. Listen." Yami said.

"Don't you even start. You're going to listen to me." Heba growled.

Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Malik, and Ryou were all standing back watching.

"So, should we help him?" Bakura asked.

"Not right now." Atemu said.

"Why not?" Ryou asked.

"Because I don't have a death wish. I don't think Heba will kill Yami, but I'm not going to take the chance." Atemu said.

"Meaning you're scared of your Hikari." Bakura said.

"You would be too if you knew him as well as I do." Atemu said.

"I can't believe that you would do this, you selfish bastard! What did Yugi ever to do you to deserve the hell that you have put him through?" Heba shouted.

Yami cringed at the words.

Seeing his temper, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba joined Seto behind the couch.

"How the hell could you act like that? You date a girl that you have no romantic feelings for at all and deny the fact that you were in love with my brother! How the hell could you do something like that? You don't date someone when you have feelings for someone else!" Heba shouted.

Yami backed up slowly.

"As if that wasn't bad enough, you start to ignore Yugi for nine and a half damn months! He didn't deserve that!" Heba shouted.

Yami was now pressed up again the window. He had nowhere else to go.

"Then, on top of everything, you keep your damned linked closed when Yugi was raped! Then you don't notice he's not in the house for a month and half! You don't listen to him when he's trying to tell you something very important! You don't notice he moved out of the house! You don't notice anything about Yugi!" Heba growled.

Yami was silent for two reasons. One, he knew better than to argue with Heba when he was raging on like this. Two, he knew that everything was true, and he knew that there was nothing he could say.

Heba then glared at Yami with a great deal of anger. "Don't you have anything to say?" Heba asked.

"No." Yami said quietly.

"No?" Heba asked, surprised.

This also surprised everyone else.

Bakura leaned over to Atemu. "Yami does know that Heba is going to murder him if he doesn't give him the answers he wants, doesn't he?" Bakura asked.

"Yes." Atemu said.

"So what is he doing? Does he have a death wish?" Marik asked.

"I have no idea." Atemu said.

"What do you mean no?" Heba asked.

"What do you want me to say, Heba? There's nothing I can say. I can't excuse what I've done. I know I've done a lot wrong. I have no excuse for dating Tea when I knew I would never feel anything for her. I have no excuse for ignoring Yugi. I have no excuse for keeping the link closed when he was raped. I have no excuse for not noticing that Yugi wasn't in the house while he was in the hospital. I have no excuse for not listening to Yugi when he tried to tell me he was raped. I have no excuse for not noticing that Yugi was not living with us anymore. I don't have any excuses for anything." Yami said.

"You're not even going to give a reason for it?" Heba asked.

"What's the point?" Yami asked, throwing his arms up. "Trying to give a reason or explain why I did what I did would be the same as saying that I did nothing wrong or I was not at fault. I was wrong. I was at fault. I'm not going to make excuses. I'm not going to give you a reason. There isn't one." Yami said.

The room was quiet.

"Well, I have to say I'm impressed." Heba said.

"You are?" Yami asked.

"I thought for sure that I was going to have to kill you because you would try to give excuses or explain away everything that you did." Heba said.

"I can't do that. I did a lot wrong, but I won't deny it." Yami said.

"I'm glad to hear that." Heba said.

Seto rose up a little to look over the couch at them.

"Is it safe now?" Joey asked.

"I don't know yet." Seto said.

Heba watched Yami for a moment. "I want you to answer this question, and I want an honest answer. I may not like the answer, but I need the honest one." Heba said.

Yami nodded.

"And if you lie to me, you can be sure that you're going to smashing through the glass." Heba said growled.

"Should we interfere now?" Malik asked.

"No. As long as Yami tells Heba the truth, he'll be fine." Atemu said.

"And if he lies?" Bakura asked.

"Yami asked for it." Atemu said. He wondered what Heba was going to ask Yami.

"Did you ever hear anything from Yugi through the link the night he was raped? Did you know he was raped or even suspect it?" Heba asked.

"What?" Yami asked, shocked.

"Did you know, Yami? Did you even have an inkling as to what had happened?" Heba asked.

Yami couldn't believe he was being asked this, but he knew that he needed to give an answer. "No, Heba. I never knew what happened. I didn't know until Atemu told us." Yami said.

"Well, that's some good news." Heba said. He walked over and sat down in one of the chairs in the room.

Slowly, Seto stood up.

Heba looked at him in shock. "Why are you behind the couch?" Heba asked.

"To be out of the line of fire." Seto answered.

Heba rolled his eyes. "I never planned to kill him or shed blood." Heba said.

"So, I can sit down and not worry about being killed?" Yami asked.

"Yes." Heba said.

Slowly, everyone in the room started to sit down.

"Heba, if you don't mind me asking, why did you ask Yami that question?" Ryou asked.

Heba rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Because Yugi believes that." Heba answered.

"What?"

Heba nodded. "For some reason, Yugi believed that Yami knew what had happened to him and didn't care. He believed that Yami had heard him through the link and let those men rape him. That's why he's so pissed at you, Yami." Heba said, looking over at a shocked Yami. "He thinks that you knew and did nothing to try and help him. He thinks you let it happen because you wanted to be rid of Yugi. He thinks you were sick of having to protect your Hikari, so he thinks you let him get raped so that he'd die and you wouldn't have to deal with him anymore." Heba said.

"That's not true! I didn't know!" Yami exclaimed.

"Heba, I know Yami, and if he had known, he would have tracked Yugi down and helped him. I know that." Atemu said, shocked.

"I know. I just needed to make sure." Heba said.

"Well, it explains why Yugi is so pissed at Yami right now." Malik said.

"Yeah. He thinks that Yami knew the truth." Bakura said.

Yami shook his head. "I never knew." Yami said.

"I know that now, Yami. I just wanted to make sure." Heba said.

"Hold it! How did you find out?" Joey asked.

"Yugi told me." Heba answered.

~Flashback~

"_Yugi, are you okay?" Heba asked._

"_**I-I'm sorry, Heba. I just needed someone to talk, and I didn't know how else to call. This isn't something I want to talk to anyone else about.**__" Yugi said._

_Heba could tell that Yugi was crying. "Yugi, what's wrong?" Heba asked._

"_**Heba, I-I'm worried that he knew. I'm scared he knew and didn't care! I'm scared he wanted me to get raped, to get killed!**__" Yugi said._

_Heba could easily tell that Yugi was getting hysterical. "Yugi, please. Try and calm down." Heba said. He could tell Yugi was trying to control the sobs that wanted to erupt. "Yugi, can you tell me what is going on?" Heba asked._

"_**Oh, Heba! I think Yami might have known!**__" Yugi exclaimed._

"_Known what?" Heba asked, fearing the answer._

"_**I think he might have heard me calling out to him through the link the night those men raped me! I think he knew and didn't care! I think he let it happen, wanted it to happen!**__" Yugi said, started to cry again._

"_Why do you think that?" Heba asked. He was getting angry and knew that if this turned out to be true, he would kill Yami with his bare hands, no magic needed._

"_**I just know he knew! Heba, I think he's sick of me! I think he's sick of me being his Hikari! He wanted me to die so that he didn't have to deal with me anymore!**__" Yugi said._

_Heba felt his heart clench in sorrow at the tone his brother's voice had taken. "Yugi, please. Calm down. It's okay. It'll be okay." Heba said._

"_**He hates me, Heba. He wanted me to be dead. He doesn't want to have to deal with me anymore.**__" Yugi said hysterically._

~End Flashback~

"It took me a while to calm Yugi down." Heba said. He looked over at Yami and said, "That was why I was so pissed at you, Yami. I thought you knew. Since I know that you didn't know, I don't want to kill you now."

Yami sighed. "No wonder Yugi's so angry. He thinks I knew." Yami said, slumping down a little.

"Great. Now what?" Ryou asked, leaning against Bakura.

Heba noticed that there was a Millennium Ring around Ryou's neck as well as Bakura's neck. "Ryou. Bakura. Can I ask you two something?" Heba asked.

"Sure. What?" Ryou asked.

"Why do you each have a Millennium Ring? Unless my memories of ancient Egypt are completely screwed up, I thought that there was just one of each time." Heba said.

"Your memories aren't screwed up, Heba." Atemu assured him.

"When we Yamis gained our own bodies, the Millennium items that we have split into two, one light item and one dark item." Yami said.

"The Yamis have the dark item, and the Hikari has the Light item." Marik added.

"So, does that mean that Yugi has a Millennium Puzzle as well?" Heba asked.

"Sure does." Malik said.

"Where is it then?" Heba asked.

The group looked at each other.

"I ask because I didn't see him wearing it, and I wondered where it is." Heba said.

"Um, do you know?" Bakura asked, looking over at Atemu.

"Me? Why are you asking me? He was wearing it when he was still living at the Game Shop, and he didn't live at the Game Shop for the last two months." Atemu said.

"Well, I don't know where it is." Marik said.

"Neither do I." Malik added.

"Please tell me someone knows." Yami said.

"Why does it matter?" Tristan asked.

"Because the items still have magic. If the Millennium Puzzle that Yugi has falls into the wrong hands, that could be disastrous." Yami said.

"Okay. The Millennium Puzzle is most likely in the house some place." Ryou said.

"Uh, Ryou. The house was destroyed, remember?" Bakura asked.

Ryou sighed. "It won't hurt to go and look for it." Ryou said.

"The less that go, the better off we'll be." Atemu said.

"Well, I think I know where it is." Ryou said.

"Okay. We'll go to the house and look for it." Bakura said. He grabbed Ryou and teleported them out of the house.

"Well, I didn't mean to cause a fuss." Heba said.

"It's better that we know where it is." Atemu said.

"Yeah. We definitely don't need that falling into the wrong hands." Marik said.

"At least Heba didn't kill you, Yami." Mokuba said.

"I thought for sure that he would." Yami said.

"Hey! I was pissed, but I wasn't going to kill you." Heba said. He thought a moment and added, "Unless you told me you knew he was being raped when it happened and did nothing. I would have had to of killed you then."

"Well, at least you don't have to flee the country now." Seto said.

"Flee the country?" Heba repeated.

"When we got here, Yami was going nuts. He was trying to figure out how to get away before you decided to kill him." Tristan said.

Heba shook his head. "Running would have only made things worse. Besides, Yugi could have gotten to you easily then." Heba said.

"Right now, I'm starting to think that Yugi has every right to want to kill me." Yami said.

* * *

Ryou and Bakura reappeared in their destroyed house.

"Okay. Where do you think it is?" Bakura asked.

"We'll have to look in Yugi's room. That's where it would probably be." Ryou said.

Bakura nodded, and the two headed to the room that had been Yugi's.

The room was destroyed.

"Well, I don't know that we'll find it here." Bakura said.

"I think we will. The Millennium Puzzle wouldn't have been destroyed in the explosion." Ryou said. He walked over to the closet and opened it. "Wow." Ryou said.

Bakura looked and was surprised as well. "Nothing in the closet was touched." Bakura said.

"Well, let's get to looking." Ryou said.

The two started going through the closet, looking for the Millennium Puzzle.

Ryou moved a blanket aside and found the gold box that the Millennium Puzzle had been found in. "I found it." Ryou said.

"Good. Let's go back." Bakura said. He took hold of Ryou's arm and teleported them back to the Kaiba mansion.

* * *

"What do we do about helping Yugi?" Tea asked.

"I don't know. There's a lot that we have to consider." Heba said.

"Including the fact that Yugi has kicked all of our asses." Marik said.

"And wouldn't hesitate to do it again." Seto added.

"Besides the obvious." Heba said.

"I mean, what could we do to make Yugi feel better?" Tea said.

"Giving him Yami would make him feel better." Tristan said.

"Hey!" Yami said.

"It would." Tristan said.

"The point is to keep Yami alive." Atemu said.

"This is hopeless." Joey said.

"Maybe, but we have to try." Serenity said.

Malik was thinking about something different. [[We know how Yugi feels when he's fighting us, but what about when he's not around us?]] Malik asked himself, not realizing that the thought went through the link.

"Hey, Malik. What are you talking about?" Heba asked.

"Huh? What?" Malik asked, looking over at his fellow Hikari.

"You said that through the link. What did you mean?" Heba asked.

"Oh. I was just thinking that we see how Yugi is when he's around us." Malik said.

"Yeah. Angry and full of hate with only thoughts of revenge." Joey said.

Seto whacked Joey in the back of the head.

"Ow! That hurt, Seto!" Joey barked, glaring at Seto.

"Well, be quiet and let them talk. We all know how Yugi feels. We don't need it reiterated." Seto retorted.

"Go on, Malik." Atemu said.

"Well, what about when Yugi's not around us and on his own? What does he feel then?" Malik asked.

"You're thinking that Yugi might have some different emotions when he's on his own." Heba said, starting to see where this was going.

"Yeah. If we know that, then maybe we can figure out how to help him." Malik said.

"That's not a bad idea." Heba agreed.

"How do we find the answer to that?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, we could-" Malik started.

"No." Marik said firmly.

"But-" Malik started.

"No, Marik. When this started, we agreed that you and Ryou would keep the link to Yugi closed off entirely. We couldn't take the chance of Yugi learning anything." Marik said.

"Atemu-" Malik started.

"Sorry, Malik, but I'm with Marik on this one. We don't know what Yugi has in mind. We can't chance him managing to use the link to possibly hurt one of you." Atemu said.

"Atemu." Heba said.

Atemu looked over at his Hikari.

"I think you're going to have to make an exception. This could help us more than anything. We do need to know all of what Yugi is feeling." Heba said.

"I don't think that this is a good idea." Atemu said.

"Look. To handle this right we need to know everything that Yugi is feeling. If we do, then maybe we can reach him." Heba said.

Atemu sighed. "No. I won't change my mind." Atemu said.

"Okay. I can always make your life a living hell." Heba said.

"You honestly think that's going to work?" Atemu asked.

"It worked back in Egypt." Heba said.

"I don't think that it will work now." Atemu said.

"Atemu, could I remind you that the by making your life a living hell, Heba means making you celibate." Yami said.

Atemu looked back at Heba. "Oh. Yeah." Atemu said, grimacing.

"It's for the best, Atemu. We need to know every aspect of this situation." Heba said.

"He actually makes a good point." Yami said.

"You don't have a say in this." Marik said.

Atemu groaned. "I hate when you do this, Heba." Atemu said.

"What? Win an argument?" Heba asked.

"No. Well, that, too, but make a good point that I hate." Atemu said.

"It is for the best." Heba said.

Ryou and Bakura reappeared in the room then.

"Find it?" Yami asked.

"Yeah." Ryou said, showing them the box.

"Well, at least it's safe." Marik said.

"We hope." Bakura said.

"Why do you say that?" Atemu asked.

"We didn't actually look in the box." Bakura said.

"Why not?" Seto asked.

"Because this is the only place Yugi would have put it." Ryou said as he set the box on the table.

"That is true." Yami said.

Heba reached over and took the box opening it.

"It in there?" Bakura asked.

"Yeah. Just one question." Heba said.

"What?" Atemu asked.

Heba set the box into his lap before reaching into the box with box hands. He pulled out an almost complete Millennium Puzzle, which he held in one hand. In the other hand, Heba held the piece with the eye of Horus on it.

"The Puzzle isn't complete." Yami said, astonished.

"I think that's obvious." Seto said.

"Any idea what happened?" Heba asked.

"Yugi could have taken that piece out, although I don't know why." Atemu said, frowning.

"I don't know, either. I wonder when he did that." Bakura remarked.

The group looked at each other.

"What now?" Tea asked.

"I don't know. Should I put the last piece in?" Heba asked.

"Yugi must have had a reason for it." Ryou said.

"Yeah, but what? I mean, the Millennium Puzzle didn't have anything to do with the link he had with Yami. It just helped him keep his magic in check." Ryou said.

"Speaking of which, you need to give Heba his half of your Millennium Puzzle set, Atemu." Marik said.

"That's true." Atemu agreed.

"It might explain why the Shadow magic so easily took control of Yugi. He didn't have the Millennium Puzzle to help his Light magic." Bakura said.

"That might be true." Atemu said.

"Any idea what we do now?" Yami asked.

"Not really." Ryou said.

"So, should I just leave the puzzle uncompleted, or should I replace this piece?" Heba asked.

"Well, it couldn't hurt." Ryou said.

"Yeah. It might help us get Yugi back to normal in some way." Malik said.

Heba started to put the piece back.

"By the way, these two want to open their link with Yugi." Atemu said.

"What? Why the hell would you want to do that?" Bakura exclaimed.

"Bakura, it might help. If we know what Yugi is feeling all the time, we might be able to help him. We need to know what Yugi is feeling all the time." Malik said.

"He's right." Ryou said.

Heba replaced the piece.

The eye of the light half of the Millennium Puzzle started to glow slightly before a hurt of gold light suddenly shot out from it.

"Ah!" Heba exclaimed, dropping it.

"What's happening?" Tea exclaimed.

The Millennium Puzzle went to the floor, but stopped.

The light suddenly engulfed them all.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: You find out what happened.

R&R.


	12. The Past part 1

Here's the next chapter.

In this chapter:

Italics= memories

Normal= Present time

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 12- The Past part 1

The entire group lay on the floor in a room that was so dark it would be impossible to see anything. No one was awake at the moment.

Yami grimaced and groaned before he slowly opened his eyes. He rose up on his hands and looked around. Other than his friends, he wasn't able to see anything. "Where am I? What happened?" Yami asked.

Atemu was laying right beside Yami.

Yami reached over and started to shake Atemu. "Atemu. Atemu, wake up." Yami said urgently, trying to get Atemu up.

Atemu groaned lowly before he opened his eyes. He turned his head slightly to look at Yami. "What?" Atemu asked as he sat up.

"Where are we?" Yami asked.

Atemu took a look around and wondered the exact same thing. "I don't have a clue, but we had better wake everyone up. We need to make sure that everyone is all right before we do anything." Atemu said.

Yami nodded in agreement.

The two started to try and wake all of their friends up.

Seto was the first to come around. "What the hell hit me?" Seto asked.

"We don't have a clue. We're not even sure where we are at the moment, Seto." Atemu said.

Bakura was the next to wake up. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL HAPPENED, AND WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE WE?" Bakura shouted.

Yami winced. "Nothing wrong with Bakura. His lungs, anyway." Yami said.

Bakura's shouting had woken everyone else up.

"Where are we?" Tea asked, frightened.

"I don't know. We haven't managed to figure that one out yet." Yami said.

The entire group stood up and looked around.

"There has to be a light somewhere." Mokuba said.

"I wouldn't count on that, Mokuba." Atemu said.

"Why not?" Mokuba asked.

"Because we may not even be in our world anymore." Atemu said.

"How do you know that?" Serenity asked.

"Right before we got here, the Millennium Puzzle was activated. I think that Yugi's half of the Millennium Puzzle brought us here." Atemu said.

"Why would it do that, though?" Joey asked.

"I don't know." Atemu said.

"Maybe I shouldn't have put the piece back in." Heba said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I wouldn't say that. You couldn't have known this would happen." Ryou said as he looked around.

"Well, what now? We don't know where we are or why we are here." Marik said.

"Can't you just use your Shadow magic to teleport us out of here?" Joey asked.

"Might as well." Bakura said.

Nothing happened.

"All right. Enough waiting around. Get us out of here." Tristan said.

"Tristan, we did try." Atemu said, looking around.

"Our Shadow magic isn't getting us out of here right now." Atemu said.

"Why, though?" Tea asked.

"I don't know." Atemu answered.

"It might have something to do with the Millennium Puzzle." Yami said.

Everyone looked at Yami.

"Think about it. This happened when Heba completed the Millennium Puzzle. Maybe the puzzle is what brought us here." Yami said.

"Any idea why?" Seto asked.

"No, I don't." Yami said.

"Can't you use the power of your Millennium Puzzle to get out of here?" Tristan asked.

"I could try, but I don't even know where here is, and I would need to know that to even attempt to get out of here." Yami said.

"All right. We can't get out of here, so we might as well try and figure out where we are. There's a reason we were brought here, and we need to find out what that reason is." Atemu said.

Suddenly, a flash of light blinded them for a moment. When the group was able to see again, they found themselves on the outside of Domino High School.

"Hey! We're back home!" Joey said.

"Great! Now we can get out of here." Tristan said.

Just as Tristan was about to move, someone walked right into him.

And right through him!

"What the hell?" Tristan exclaimed, scared out of his mind.

The others looked shocked.

Atemu looked up and his eyes widened in shock at what he saw. "We're not in Domino exactly." Atemu said.

"Then where are we?" Seto asked.

"Somehow, we're in the past." Atemu said, pointing.

The group looked and gasped.

Ahead of them was the entire group.

"_Come on, guys! Let's get going." Joey said as he ran ahead of the group._

"_Yeah. Let's get going. We need to get to that new pizza parlor before it gets too crowded." Tristan agreed._

"_What are you worried about? I could get us in without any problem." Seto said._

_Yami and Tea were holding hands._

"Okay. Why are we holding hands?" Tea asked.

"This is where it started." Ryou said in shock.

"Where what started?" Yami asked.

"This whole mess. You and Tea are dating at this time. This is when you started ignoring your Hikari." Bakura said.

"_Atemu, are you coming?" Yami asked._

"_In a minute." Atemu said._

"_Ryou! Malik! Why don't you guys join us? You can bring Marik and Bakura, too." Tea said._

"_Yeah. Us twelve can go and see this new place." Joey said._

_Yugi had a downcast expression._

"_Uh, sure." Ryou said his eyes on Yugi._

_Yami and the others walked off._

"_Yugi, are you-?" Atemu started._

_Yugi looked up and gave Atemu a fake smile. "Its okay, Atemu. I don't need to go." Yugi said._

"_Yugi, if you weren't invited, then I'm not going." Atemu said._

"_Me, either." Ryou said._

"_Ditto." Malik added._

"_Guys, don't worry about it. I have a project to work on." Yugi said. He then turned and headed home._

_Atemu rubbed his head. "Ryou. Malik. Do me a favor?" Atemu said._

"_What?" Ryou asked._

"_Remind me to kill my brother." Atemu said._

"_Duly noted." Malik said._

"_I can't go knowing Yugi was left out and is home alone. I'm heading home, too." Atemu said._

"_What about them?" Malik asked motioning in the direction the others took._

"_I don't give a damn! If they think that they're too good to hang out with Yugi anymore, then I'm not hanging out with them. I had enough with stuck-up asses back in ancient Egypt. I don't need it here." Atemu said._

"_Same here." Malik said._

"_Well, I'm not going, either. Besides, ever since Yami started dating Tea three days ago, I haven't seen him pay one second of attention to Yugi. It's like he doesn't care about Yugi now.'" Ryou said._

"_He's only fooling himself. He's trying to convince himself that he can forget about Yugi and fall in love with Tea. He doesn't realize he's hurting himself and everyone else." Atemu said before walking put._

"_Bastard." Malik muttered before walking off._

_Ryou sighed and left as well._

"You guys knew even then?" Yami asked in a low voice.

"Yeah. We knew." Malik said.

"And we were told." Bakura growled, glaring at Yami.

Yami wasn't sure if he should back up or let Bakura do whatever he wanted to.

"It was the like the instant you started dating Tea, Yugi didn't matter. You paid attention to Tea mostly. You even gave the others some of your attention, but it was like Yugi didn't exist." Atemu said.

"I never realized it." Yami said softly.

"Yeah. None of us did." Joey said.

The scene then changed.

_Yugi was sitting on his bed, looking at some cards. He let out a sigh. "I wish I knew what was going on. Yami hasn't talked to me in over a month. I just don't get it. Is he mad at me for some reason?" Yugi asked aloud._

_With another sigh, Yugi set the cards down and leaned back against the headboard of the bed._

_Then, the cards on Yugi's bed glowed before a bight flash of light filled the room._

_Kuriboh, Dark Magician, and Dark Magician Girl were in Yugi's bedroom._

"_Kuri, kuri." Kuriboh said, flying over next to Yugi and nuzzling himself against Yugi's cheek._

_Yugi smiled and reached up to stroke Kuriboh's fur. "Hey, Kuriboh." Yugi said._

"_Master Yugi, are you all right?" Dark Magician asked._

_Yugi smiled sadly. "I'll be all right, Dark Magician. You don't need to worry about me." Yugi assured him._

"_Forgive me, but I am worried." Dark Magician said._

"_We all are, Master Yugi." Dark Magician Girl said as she flew over next to Yugi._

"_I know you three are-" Yugi started._

"_No, Master Yugi. It's not just us. All of the Shadow creatures under your command are concerned for you. We can sense your sadness." Dark Magician said._

"_I'm sorry." Yugi said, looking down. "I didn't mean to worry you." Yugi added._

"_We're not upset, Master. We just want to know what is going on." Dark Magician Girl said._

"_It is nothing. It is my own personal problem, and I am just going to have to learn to deal with it." Yugi said._

"_Master Yugi." Dark Magician said._

_Yugi looked up at the mage._

"_We are your friends as well, Master. We are good listeners, and we will listen to whatever is troubling you. Perhaps we can help." Dark Magician said._

_Yugi sighed. He knew that he needed to talk to someone about what was going on. "Well, I guess it's about Yami." Yugi said._

"_The Pharaoh? What of him?" Dark Magician asked._

"_I think he is mad at me." Yugi said._

"_Why do you think that?" Dark Magician Girl asked._

"_Because we haven't been talking. He hasn't spoken to me in a while, and he won't even look at me. Sometimes, he doesn't even acknowledge that I am there when we're with our friends." Yugi said. He looked away and said, "His friends." _

_Dark Magician looked concerned. "His friends?" Dark Magician asked._

"_Yeah. Lately, I feel like Atemu, Ryou, Bakura, Malik, and Marik are the only friends I have. The others have been acting like Yami." Yugi said._

"_Master, how long has this been going on?" Dark Magician asked._

"_About a month." Yugi answered._

"_A month?" Dark Magician exclaimed._

_Yugi nodded._

"_How can he do that? That's just ignoring you!" Dark Magician Girl cried._

"_I ought to give him a piece of my mind!" Dark Magician growled, obviously angry._

"_How can you do that? You can't go against Yami. He's the one who controls you." Yugi said._

_Dark Magician gave Yugi a smile. "Master, you are our true master. We choose to serve the Pharaoh because you want us to." Dark Magician said._

"_What?" Yugi said, looking shocked._

"_That's right. The Hikaris are the true owners of the Millennium items; therefore they are the ones who truly control their Shadow creatures. We serve the Yamis as well because the Hikaris would want us to." Dark Magician explained._

_Yugi frowned. "I don't understand. I thought Yami was your true master." Yugi said._

"_Five thousands years ago, that was true. However, you are the one who completed the Millennium Puzzle, which makes you our true master. We do not have to serve the Pharaoh. We merely choose to because we know that that is what you want is to do." Dark Magician said._

"_Well, I would prefer it if you didn't do that. I don't want to cause any problems." Yugi said._

"_Very well. We won't tell the Pharaoh what is going on, but that doesn't mean we have to like it." Dark Magician said._

"_Thank you." Yugi said._

"_Just remember that we are here to listen to you should you need us to." Dark Magician Girl said._

"_I'll remember that." Yugi assured her._

_Dark Magician Girl gave Yugi a smile._

_Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl vanished._

_Kuriboh settled in Yugi's lap._

_Yugi smiled and stroked Kuriboh's fur. "Thanks, Kuriboh. I could use some company right now." Yugi said._

_The sadness was still evident in Yugi's eyes._

"Damn! I didn't know that the Shadow creatures' true loyalty lies with the Hikaris." Bakura said.

"Yeah. I thought that it was the other way around." Marik said.

"Well, obviously not." Tristan said.

"I don't think that I would have mattered if you tried to call them or not, Yami. From the sounds of it, they were all turned against you." Seto said.

"Yeah. I can't really blame them, though." Yami said.

"Come on, Yami. You can't mean that." Tea said.

"Yeah. I can. Just now, I saw how hurt and lonely Yugi was. I just can't believe that I was the one that caused it." Yami said.

"Well, you did, and believe me when I say it was a hell of a lot worse than what you've seen." Malik said.

"I know." Yami said.

The scene changed once again.

_Atemu was sitting in the living room, reading a book._

_Yugi walked into the living room with a DVD in hand._

"_Hey, Yugi. Planning to watch a movie?" Atemu asked._

_Yugi smiled. "Yeah. Yami promised me that he would watch this with me tonight." Yugi said._

_Atemu looked surprised. "He did?" Atemu asked._

_Yugi nodded. "I don't know why, but I guess he's gotten over whatever he was mad about." Yugi replied._

"_Well, that's good. When he gets here, I'll go upstairs so that you guys can spend the time alone." Atemu said._

"_You don't have to." Yugi said._

"_Well, I know that you and Yami haven't spent much time alone, so you might as well be able to watch that movie in silence." Atemu said._

"_Okay, Atemu. Thanks." Yugi said, setting the DVD on the table and sitting down._

"_Hey, Atemu!" Yami called from downstairs._

"_Yeah!" Atemu replied._

"_I'm meeting Joey and the others at the mansion. I'll be back later." Yami said._

_The sound of the door shutting was heard a moment later._

_A look of anger passed over Atemu's features. He looked over at Yugi._

_Yugi had a downtrodden expression on his face. He looked upset._

"_Yugi?" Atemu asked._

_Yugi looked up and gave Atemu a fake smile. "I guess he forgot. It's not big deal." Yugi said._

"_Yes. It is, Yugi. He made a promise to you to watch that movie with you. He shouldn't have broken that promise. He told you he would watch that with you before Joey probably called. He should have told Joey he had other plans." Atemu said._

"_It may have been important." Yugi said softly._

"_It couldn't have been too important, Yugi. Yami had no right to go back on his word on you." Atemu insisted._

"_Atemu, please." Yugi said._

_Atemu sighed. "I'm sorry, Yugi. It's just that Yami has done this a lot lately. That's the fifth promise to you he's broken this week." Atemu said._

_Yugi stood up. "It's okay, Atemu. I didn't expect Yami to go through with his promise." Yugi said._

"_What?" Atemu asked, shocked._

"_Atemu, if Yami ever followed through with his promise, I would be shocked. I expect him to not do what he says." Yugi said._

"_Yugi, you shouldn't expect to have a person break a promise to you. That's just wrong." Atemu said._

_Yugi gave him a sad smile. "It's doesn't matter, Atemu." Yugi said._

"_Yes, it does." Atemu argued, putting his book down. "When Yami gets home, I am going to give him a piece of my mind and tell him exactly what I think of the way he has been treating you." Atemu said._

"_No, Atemu! Don't!" Yugi said in a desperate voice._

_Atemu looked at Yugi in surprise. "You don't want me to say anything?" Atemu asked._

"_No. I don't. Please. I don't want to make trouble. Just leave it alone. I'm sure Yami will change soon." Yugi said._

_Atemu didn't look certain, but he relented. He didn't want to make Yugi any more upset than he already was. "All right, Yugi. I won't say anything to Yami." Atemu said._

"_Thank you." Yugi said. He started to leave the room._

"_Yugi." Atemu said._

_Yugi turned to face Atemu._

"_Just because Yami doesn't want to watch that movie doesn't mean we can't." Atemu said._

_Yugi looked surprised. "You want to watch it?" Yugi asked._

"_Sure. We can make some popcorn, and we'll watch the movie together." Atemu said._

"_Um, are you sure?" Yugi asked._

"_Yes. I'm sure." Atemu said._

"_What about the book you were reading?" Yugi asked._

"_It's for school, and I have a month to finish it." Atemu said._

"_Oh. Okay." Yugi agreed._

"_Come on. We'll watch the movie." Atemu said._

_Yugi nodded in agreement._

"That was when I virtually took over your role as Yugi's Yami." Atemu said.

Everyone looked at Atemu.

"Yugi needed someone to be there for him, so I was the one that had to do it." Atemu said.

"I just broke a promise like that? Without an consideration to Yugi?" Yami asked.

"Yeah, you did. You did it so much that, as you just saw, Yugi started to expect you to break your promise. You know that there is a problem when a person starts to expect you to break a promise to them." Atemu said.

"I can't believe that I was such a bastard." Yami said.

"You were a lot more than that." Heba muttered.

All eyes turned to Heba.

"How did you know? You weren't here." Tristan said.

"Every hear of chat rooms on the internet? Or of a phone?" Heba asked.

"You and Yugi talked a lot, didn't you?" Ryou asked.

"Yeah. I knew everything that was going on." Heba said.

Yami shook his head. "I just can't believe that I did all that." Yami said.

"Well, believe it. You were an ignorant ass. You completely ignored your Hikari, and when you did actually promise to spend time with you, you usually ended up breaking that promise because of the fact that they," Bakura said, motioning to Joey, Seto, Serenity, Mokuba, Tristan, and Tea, "wanted to do something. You just tossed Yugi aside like he didn't mean a thing to you."

"I'm starting to see what I did." Yami said. He was angry at himself. He had been so wrong to Yugi, and he knew that there was nothing he could do to change the past.

"Yami, we haven't even reached the tip of the ice berg." Ryou said.

Tea shook her head. "Did we all do that?" Tea asked.

"Yeah. Despite the fact that the memories are focusing on Yami, you all did it, too." Atemu said.

"Are we going to see everything?" Joey asked.

"Yugi's half of the Millennium Puzzle is what is doing this. It's very possible that we're going to see memories right up to when Yugi gained control of Yami's Shadow magic and then went out of control." Atemu said.

The scene then changed once again.

_Atemu and Yugi were over at Ryou and Malik's house._

"_I can't believe that good-for-nothing bastard! How can Yami just completely ignore Yugi all the time? And break his promises?" Bakura exclaimed._

"_Bakura, it's not big deal." Yugi said softly._

"_Yugi, it is a big deal. You're getting hurt by this, and Yami doesn't seem to care." Atemu said._

_Yugi sighed. "I wish you hadn't gotten them involved, Ryou." Yugi said._

_Ryou put a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Yugi, but I couldn't stand how they were treating you. Besides, I needed to talk to someone about it, and Bakura was the obvious one." Ryou said._

_Yugi nodded in understanding._

"_Besides, Yugi, the fact that Yami hasn't noticed the bruises you've been getting is just making me madder." Atemu said._

"_What bruises?" Marik asked._

"_Well, the bullies at school have noticed that Yami doesn't pay that much attention to Yugi anymore, so they've decided to start going after Yugi again. I can only be there to stop them so much." Atemu said._

"_That bastard is letting bullies get their hands on you again!" Bakura shouted._

_Yugi winced._

"_I can't believe it! I'm going to march over there and tell that bastard everything!" Marik said, getting up._

"_No, Marik! Please don't!" Yugi cried._

"_Yugi, I know that you don't want to cause any trouble, but this is ridiculous. This has been going on for three months. Enough is enough." Atemu said._

"_Please. I don't want you to say anything to him or anyone else. Please!" Yugi said._

_Given how desperate Yugi sounded, the three Yamis weren't able to go through with their plan._

"_Okay, Yugi. We wont say anything." Bakura said._

"_Thanks." Yugi said._

"_I am going to get sick at the next words I am going to say." Bakura said._

"_What?" Ryou asked, a little worried._

"_Ry, I'm enrolling in Domino High." Bakura said._

_The entire group starred at Bakura._

"_I know. I hate the idea, too. But if that bastard Yami isn't going to protect Yugi from the bullies, then I am going to be there to help Atemu protect him from them." Bakura said._

"_Well, I guess I'm going, too." Marik said._

"_You don't have to do that." Yugi said softly._

"_Yeah. We do. If your Yami won't do it, then we will." Bakura said._

"_You know, you guys are trashing Yami a lot." Malik said with a frown._

_Marik sighed. "Malik, we know that Bakura and I aren't the perfect Yamis. Hell. I took over your life and nearly killed a lot of people. I killed your father. I messed up big time. I don't act like I'm perfect. I made mistakes, but I tried to fix them. I wouldn't abandon you the way Yami has abandoned Yugi. He doesn't realize how bad this is. I made mistakes. I openly admit that. I did try to fix what I could, though. Yami hasn't had anything to do with Yugi for three months, and he hasn't changed a bit." Marik said._

"_I'm with Marik. I mean, I was cruel to Ryou. I beat him, I tool over his life, and I was a downright bastard to him. I know that, and Ryou had no reason to want me to stay in his life, but he did. I know how it feels to possibly lose your Hikari's trust for good. I'm not perfect. I made major mistakes, but we did try to fix them. Yami hasn't even acknowledged he did anything wrong. How he hasn't noticed the lack of his Hikari around I don't know." Bakura said._

"_You know, I forgave you a while ago." Malik said._

"_I know. I was just making a point." Marik said._

"_Yeah." Bakura said._

"_Well, I forgave you, too." Ryou said._

"_Well, at least they admit that they are not perfect. Yami's not, either." Atemu said._

"_I appreciate you not doing anything, Bakura." Yugi said._

"_Sure. Whatever." Bakura said._

"_Are you really enrolling in Domino High, though?" Ryou asked._

"_Yeah. Might as well help Atemu out." Bakura said."Well, I could use it." Atemu said._

_Ryou rested a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "At least they can help keep those bullies away from you now." Ryou told his friend._

_Yugi nodded._

"I'm surprised that you didn't go ahead and murder me." Yami said.

"Trust me. We wanted to. Badly." Marik said.

"Yugi was the only reason that none of us did try and kill you." Atemu said.

Yami nodded.

"Well, at least he did have all of you to watch out for him." Tea said.

"Yeah." Atemu said.

Seto looked over at Marik and Bakura. "You know, I honestly thought that you two were attacking Yami for the way he treated Yugi without thinking about the mistakes you made with your own Hikaris. I guess I was wrong." Seto said.

"Yeah. You were. We admit that we made a lot of mistakes where Ryou and Malik are concerned. We abused them, destroyed their trust, and took over their lives. We certainly didn't deserve forgiveness or even a second chance." Bakura said.

"They gave it to us anyway, and we were grateful for that. We know that a mistake could cost us our Hikaris for good. We don't want to take the chance that we could lose them for good." Bakura said.

"Now I'm the one who has a chance of that happening." Yami said.

"I guess a lot of what we thought we knew was wrong." Tristan said.

The scene changed once again.

_Yugi was on the ground at school whimpering. His face had a large bruise, and he was holding his stomach as if he was in pain._

_One of the bullies laughed. "Not feeling so safe now that Yami isn't protecting you now." the bully said._

"_So, what now?" another asked._

"_I say we make up for everything that happened, including Atemu." the bully said. He reached down to grab Yugi._

_A hand grabbed the bully and slammed him into the wall of the school._

_Bakura glared at the bully with a look of pure hatred. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Bakura said._

"_No one asked you!" the bully said, taking a swing at Bakura._

_Bakura caught the guy's fist before he punched the guy in the face, knocking him flat on his ass._

_The others went after Bakura._

_It was then that Atemu, Marik, and even Malik showed up._

"_Are we took late?" Malik asked with a smirk._

"_Not at all. I was just getting started, but you're all welcome to help me out." Bakura said._

_Marik cracked his knuckles. "I didn't think that you could be so kind, Bakura. I appreciate you leaving some of them for us." Marik said._

_The bullies looked pissed._

"_You think that you can stop us?" the bully Bakura had already fought, obviously the leader, said._

"_Why don't we find out?" Bakura asked with a smirk._

_The bullies immediately attacked._

_Atemu, Bakura, Marik, and Malik all fought them._

_Ryou went over to Yugi. "Are you okay, Yugi?" Ryou asked._

"_I think so." Yugi said._

_It wasn't long before all of the bullies were on the ground._

"_You mess with Yugi, you mess with us. And next time, I might just have to bring my knife. I do so love putting it to good use." Bakura said._

"_Hmm. I may have to bring my machete along." Marik said with a thoughtful and insidious look on his face._

_The bullies look at the two with looks of absolute fear before they ran off._

"_Did you have to say that? You know what they thought." Atemu said._

"_I know. It was meant to scare them. After all, they're just a bunch of girls who pick on people who are weaker than themselves. Against someone like me, they're going to run with their tails between their legs." Bakura said._

"_So true." Marik agreed._

_Malik smirked. "You know, I do love to fight. I wouldn't mind going another round with them." Malik said._

"_Marik. You corrupted your Hikari." Atemu said._

"_Hey! Malik already had a love of fighting when I got involved. I just taught him the proper way to fight." Marik protested._

"_Yamis are supposed to protect their Hikaris, not teach them to fight or provoke them to." Atemu said._

_Marik shrugged. "Malik likes to take up for himself. Who am I to deny him that right?" Marik asked._

_The four then turned their attention to Yugi._

"_Are you okay, Yugi?" Atemu asked._

"_Yeah. I'm fine." Yugi said._

"_That bruise looks pretty bad." Malik said._

_Bakura growled. "I should have done a hell of a lot worse to them." Bakura said._

"_I don't think that you'll have to worry. You'll get the chance. I really doubt that one ass-kicking from us is going to make them stop." Atemu said._

"_I'm sure that Marik and I can make them stop. Out of school, of course." Bakura said._

"_Kura." Ryou said warningly._

"_What? I haven't done anything yet." Bakura said._

"_Yugi, come on. I'm going to take you to see the school nurse." Atemu said._

"_Atemu, I'm fine. Really." Yugi said._

"_I still want you to see her just in case." Atemu said._

"_Might as well go, Yugi. A trait that all Yamis seem to share is that they are stubborn. He won't let up until you go and see the nurse, so save your breath. Arguing will only be a waste." Ryou told Yugi._

_Yugi sighed. "Okay." Yugi agreed._

_Atemu and Yugi then walked off._

"And I still believe that stubbornness is a trait that all Yamis share." Ryou said.

"So, I take it that those bullies didn't mess with Yugi again." Seto said.

"They made the mistake of messing with Yugi two more times. Marik and I decided to deal with them after school." Bakura said.

"And you weren't arrested?" Joey asked.

"Well, they were the ones that threw the first punch, so the police called it self-defense." Bakura said.

"How bad were those bullies hurt?" Tea asked.

"Well, there were five in all. One was in the hospital a two days. Another was in there three. Two were in there a week. The last, the head bully, was in the hospital two weeks. Four of them moved away. The last transferred to another high school." Atemu said.

"On the upside, Yugi hasn't had any problems like that at school since then." Bakura said.

"Probably because no one at school wanted to have to deal with you and Marik. You two made a reputation of being bad-asses who don't give a damn within the first day of school." Atemu said.

"Well, we were being ourselves." Marik said.

"At least they do keep Yugi safe." Serenity said.

"So, not one of us noticed that anything was wrong when there was obviously a lot wrong." Tea said.

"I'm afraid so. You were all rather ignorant to the fact that you were ignoring Yugi. You also failed to notice that Yugi had bruises from before Bakura and Marik started going to the school as well." Atemu said.

"No wonder Yugi's so angry." Mokuba said.

Atemu, Marik, Bakura, Ryou, and Malik all looked at each other.

"What?" Heba asked, speaking for the first time in a while.

"We've barely touched on everything. There are memories that we haven't seen that are a thousand times worse." Atemu said.

It didn't take much for them all to know exactly what memories they were talking about.

"How long do we have before then?" Joey asked.

"Don't know. We're not seeing all of the memories. Just ones that show what you have missed over the last nine and a half months." Atemu said.

The group was silent as they thought about what they would see soon, and no one really wanted to have to witness them, especially the ones who had already been through it once.

The scene changed.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The rest of the past.

R&R.


	13. The Past part 2

Here's the next chapter.

I'm updating both this story and One Ending is the Start of a New Beginning because on Thursday 6/24, I'm leaving with parents to go visit my brother, his wife, and their daughter for the weekend, so I probably won't be able to update again until Sunday 6/27 or MOnday 6/28.

As with the last chapter:

Italics= past memories

Regular type= present

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 13- The Past part 2

"_I'm going out!" Yami called before he left the Game Shop._

_Yugi let out a sigh at this._

"_Yugi?" Atemu asked._

_Yugi turned to look at Atemu and gave him a weak smile. "You'd think that I'd be used to the way he treats me by now." Yugi said._

"_Yugi, no one should be used to being treated the way you've been treated. I wish that you would let me have two minutes alone with Yami. He'd know fast what he's been doing wrong." Atemu growled. The anger was evident in his crimson eyes._

"_I appreciate it, Atemu, but no. I don't want to hurt your relationship with Yami." Yugi said._

"_Yugi, I can't stand the way Yami is treating you. If you would just let me tell him what is going on, then things might be different." Atemu said._

"_Or it could make things worse. Don't worry about it." Yugi told him._

_Atemu obviously didn't like this, but he said nothing._

"_Atemu, I think that I'll go out for a walk. I'll be back in a little while." Yugi said._

"_Okay." Atemu said._

_Yugi the left the house._

"Damn. Talk about ignorant." Marik said.

"Marik, he doesn't need this. He already knows what he's done." Tea said angrily.

Marik glared at her. "And did Yugi need what happened to him, Tea?" Marik asked.

Tea flinched at those words.

"I didn't think so." Marik said.

"I don't see how I could have been so stupid." Yami said.

"Yami, whether you want to admit it or not, you got a taste of a new life, and you decided to enjoy it." Heba said.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Seto said.

"No. There's not. The problem comes in when it becomes your whole life, and you forget the things that are important to you. Or rather, the people who are important to you." Heba said.

Yami sighed. "I enjoyed the life I had, but Yugi had to pay the price for that life. It wasn't worth it." Yami said.

Atemu hadn't said a word. In fact, he had frozen when he saw this memory. 'No. Not that.' Atemu thought.

The scene changed once again.

_The park was quiet. It was late at night, and there was no one around._

_The only sound that could be heard was a small whimpering._

"_Come on, Marik!" Bakura said._

_The two were walking through the park._

"_Hold up!" Marik said as he tried to keep up with his friend._

"_Geez. You're lazy tonight." Bakura said._

"_Oh. Shut up!" Marik retorted._

"_Atemu knows that we're coming over, so he'll be expecting us. He'll start wondering what's happened to us if we don't show up soon." Bakura said._

Bakura and Marik both froze at that. They knew that conversation. They knew what that memory was.

Bakura and Marik looked over at Atemu, who looked at them.

All three knew what this memory was, and they weren't sure that they could handle having to see this all over again.

"_Hey. Do you hear that?" Marik asked._

_Bakura stopped and listened. "Sounds like whimpering." Bakura said._

_The two looked around and found that the whimpering was coming from behind a bush._

"_We'd better see if whoever that is needs help." Bakura said._

_Marik looked over at him. "Since when did we care if others were okay?" Marik asked._

"_I guess our Hikaris changed us without us realizing it. Come on." Bakura said._

_The two made their way to the bushes._

Joey snickered. "I guess you two really are whipped." Joey said.

Everyone looked over at Marik and Bakura, but the two had melancholy expressions as did Atemu.

"Hey. What's eating you guys?" Tristan asked.

"This isn't a joking matter." Atemu said.

"What are you talking about?" Yami asked.

"You're about to find out." Bakura said.

_Bakura and Marik walked back through the bushes. _

"_Over there." Marik said. _

_There was a figure that was shadowed lying on the ground._

_The two walked over and nearly had a heart attack._

"_YUGI!" Bakura and Marik exclaimed._

_Yugi was lying on the ground. He was naked and bleeding badly. He had been obviously beaten severely. _

"Oh my god!" Tea exclaimed, a hand going over her mouth.

"That-that was-" Seto wasn't able to finish the sentence.

Serenity felt tears come to her eyes at the memory.

In fact, none of them were dry-eyed.

"This was the night Yugi was raped." Marik said lowly.

"_Yugi!" Bakura exclaimed as he ran over._

"_Who the bloody hell could have done something like this?" Marik exclaimed, filled with rage at what had happened and worry over his young friend._

_Bakura knelt down and reached over to Yugi._

_Yugi immediately jerked away, eliciting a cry of pain from him at the movement. _

"_Damn it! He's still semi-conscious." Bakura said._

"_Now what?" Marik asked._

_Bakura grimaced. He held Yugi still as he said, "Sleep."_

_Immediately, Yugi went unconscious._

"_A sleep spell?" Marik asked._

"_Never mind! We have to get Yugi to a hospital! He'll die of blood loss if we call an ambulance!" Bakura snapped._

"_Teleportation." Marik said._

_An instant later, the two were in an alley near a hospital._

_Bakura took off his jacket and wrapped it around Yugi before he picked him up and raced into the hospital with Marik on his heels. "We need a doctor here!" Bakura shouted as he ran into the ER._

_A nurse started to scold him until she saw Yugi in Bakura's arms. "Get a gurney over here!" she hollered. She ran over. "What happened?" the nurse asked._

"_We found him in the park. We don't know what happened." Bakura said._

_A doctor and other nurses soon came and took Yugi._

"_Bakura, was he-" Marik started._

"_Yeah, Marik. Yugi was raped." Bakura said. He took out his cell phone and dialed a number. A moment later, he growled. "Damn that bastard! Even at a time like this, he can't drag himself away to answer his damned phone!" Bakura growled._

"_What?" Marik asked._

"_I thought that that bastard Yami might have actually answer his phone." Bakura said as he placed his phone to his hear. "Obviously not." Bakura said. A moment later, he said, "Atemu, Yugi's in the hospital, and he was raped." _

_There was a loud shout on the other end._

"_Yeah. Get here now. We're at Domino General." Bakura said before he hung up. He turned to find that Marik had just hung up as well._

"_I called Malik. He and Ryou are on their way." Marik said._

"_So is Atemu." Bakura said._

_Atemu, Ryou, and Malik soon arrived._

"_What happened?" Atemu demanded._

"_We don't know. We were going through the park to go to your house. We found Yugi in the bushes. He was beaten and raped. That's all we know." Bakura said._

"_The doctor's are looking at him now." Marik added._

_Atemu cursed. "Who did this?" Atemu asked._

"_If we knew that, we wouldn't be here." Bakura said._

"_Yeah. We'd be out hunting." Marik agreed._

_Atemu took out his phone._

"_If you're going to try and call Yami, I already tried. He didn't answer." Bakura said._

_Atemu slammed the phone shut. "Damn him! Some protector he turned out to be." Atemu said._

Yami winced at those words, though he understood them better now.

"How could someone do that to him?" Tristan asked. Seeing it made it a whole lot more real to Tristan than just hearing about it had.

"I don't know. Whoever did is the lowest scum of the earth." Bakura growled.

"How long did Yugi lay there in the park for?" Seto asked.

"We had to have arrived shortly after those men left. Not long. He would have died had we gotten there any later." Bakura said.

_After what had seemed like an eternity, a doctor finally came out to see them. "Who's here for Yugi Mutou?" the doctor asked._

"_We all are. How is he?" Atemu asked._

_The doctor sighed. "It's not good. He sustained a great deal of injuries." the doctor said._

"_Like what?" Bakura asked._

_The doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Mr. Mutou has several broken ribs as well as a few cracked ribs. He has a severe concussion. His left leg is broken, and his right wrist has been shattered." the doctor said. He went on to explain other injuries, including the ones that Yugi had received from the rape itself._

_By the time the doctor was through, the five were angry and horrified._

"_I'm sorry, but your friend only has a twenty percent chance of survival. There is just too much damage. We will do what we can, but the chances of Mr. Mutou actually pulling through are slim. As of right now, he is in a coma. We will do what we can for him, though." the doctor said._

_The five nodded._

"_Can we see Yugi?" Atemu asked._

"_Only family." the doctor said._

"_We're all Yugi has right now." Bakura said._

"_Very well. In this case, I believe that I can make an exception. Follow me." the doctor said._

_The five followed the doctor back into the ICU and to the room that Yugi was in._

_Yugi was lying on the bed with an oxygen tube down his throat to allow him to breath. His wrist and leg were in a cast. His face was bruised and swollen. The left side of Yugi's face was worse, although the right was bad, too. There was a bandage over Yugi's middle, proof of surgery. _

"_He'll receive around the clock care for now." the doctor said._

"_Thank you." Bakura said in a low voice. He was the only one who had managed to say anything._

_The doctor then left._

_The five were silent and still. _

_Finally, Ryou and Malik walked into the room._

"_I can't believe this." Bakura said._

"_Yeah. I wish I knew who it was that did this. So I could make them pay." Marik growled._

_Atemu looked at Yugi for a moment. He then turned and walked off._

_Marik and Bakura looked at each other before they followed Atemu._

_Ryou and Malik looked at each other, wondering what was going on._

"I can't believe this." Tea said in a hushed whisper.

"How could anyone do that to another person?" Mokuba asked, horrified.

"There are some sick people in this world. That proves it." Seto said angrily.

Joey looked over at Atemu, Marik, Bakura, Ryou, and Malik. "How did you guys handle seeing him like that?" Joey asked.

"Because we had to. Yugi had no one else at the time." Atemu said.

"Besides, he needed us with what had happened. He needed someone, and we were who were there." Ryou said.

"It was still Yugi. He needed help, and we were going to give it to him." Marik added.

_Atemu slammed open the door to the roof of the hospital and stormed out onto the roof._

_Bakura and Marik were right behind him._

"_I can't believe that this is happening! I ought to just march out there, find him, and beat the shit out of him after I tell him what his actions have caused!" Atemu said._

_Bakura and Marik looked at each other, shocked._

"_It's not even close to what he deserves, but it's a start!" Atemu growled._

"_Atemu." Bakura said._

"_What?" Atemu growled angrily._

"_We're angry, too, but there's nothing we can do." Bakura said._

"_There's a lot that we can do." Atemu retorted._

"_Atemu, we want to hunt down the ones who did this to Yugi, too, but-" Bakura started._

"_Who said that this was about Yugi's rapist? Believe me, I'll kill him, too, but I'm talking about Yami." Atemu said._

"_Yugi wouldn't want that, though." Marik said._

"_That is the only reason that I haven't started hunting him down. When Yugi was attacked, I guarantee you that Yugi was screaming for Yami to help him the entire time, and that bastard never heard him! That is the worst thing that he could have done! He has failed as a Yami." Atemu said._

"_Well, Marik and I aren't much better." Bakura said._

"_Yeah. You are. You take care of your Hikaris. You protect them. You stand by them. You don't ignore them. You don't love them and then act like they don't matter. You don't let them get hurt the way Yami has. He is a failure. You two aren't. He doesn't even seem to realize what he has done wrong. You two have, and you've made amends." Atemu said._

"_So, what now?" Marik asked._

"_We help Yugi. Right now, Yami and all his friends can go to hell. They don't matter anymore." Atemu said before he headed downstairs._

_Marik turned to look at Bakura. "Do you think he meant that?" Marik asked._

"_Every word." Bakura answered before the two followed Atemu._

"And I did mean every word that I said." Atemu said.

"You're right. I am a failure." Yami said.

"You failed as a Yami, and we failed as friends." Joey said.

"How can we even call ourselves Yugi's friends with all that has happened?" Mokuba asked.

"We can't." Seto said.

"Well, at least Yugi wasn't alone through all this." Heba said quietly.

_Atemu was sitting beside Yugi. "Yugi, I know that you're going to be okay. You're a lot stronger than this doctor thinks. You have to wake up, Yugi. We could really use having you back." Atemu said._

_Yugi was still unconscious. The swelling in his face had gone down, though, and the bruises were starting to fade._

_Atemu let out a sigh._

"_How is he?"_

_Atemu turned to see Marik, Bakura, Ryou, and Malik standing there. He then turned to look back at Yugi. "The same." Atemu said._

"_It's been three weeks. I wish he'd wake up." Bakura said._

"_Yeah. He's made it longer that that doctor thought." Marik added._

"_Doctors don't always know for sure when a patient will live or not." Ryou said._

"_I know. I just wish that Yugi would wake up already." Atemu said with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair._

"_Atemu, go home." Marik said._

"_No. I need to stay here." Atemu said._

_Ryou walked over and placed a hand on Atemu's shoulder. "Atemu, I know that you are worried about Yugi, but you've been here all night and all day. You need to go home and get some rest. One of us will stay with Yugi. You don't need to worry about that." Ryou said._

_Atemu let out a tired sigh. "All right." Atemu said. He stood up._

_It was then that a low groan was heard._

_Instantly, all eyes turned to Yugi._

"_Yugi?" Atemu asked as he moved over toward him._

_Ryou, Malik, Bakura, and Marik also gathered around Yugi._

_Slowly, Yugi opened his eyes._

"_Yugi?" Ryou asked, placing a hand on Yugi's shoulder._

_Instantly, Yugi tensed and jerked away. He then looked up. His eyes were filled with fear, horror, shame, and pain._

_The five were shocked at this._

"_Yugi?" Atemu asked._

_Yugi then looked at Atemu. His eyes seemed to have some light return to them._

_Atemu and the others took this a good thing._

"_Yami?" Yugi said._

_Those simple words made it clear what was going on in Yugi's mind, and it was enough to make the five upset and angry._

_And it broke Atemu's heart._

_Atemu placed a hand on Yugi's and said, "Yugi, its Atemu."_

_Instantly, that light seemed to vanish, and there barely seemed to be anything left._

"_Atemu?" Yugi asked in a shaky voice._

_Atemu nodded._

_And the dam broke._

_Yugi then started to cry._

"_Its okay, Yugi." Atemu said as he pulled Yugi into a hug._

_Yugi was sobbing now, and all five tried to calm him down._

"By the gods. I never knew that anything could sound that heartbreaking." Yami said. He was even more disgusted with the way he had treated Yugi over the months. Especially after seeing how Yugi looked after being raped and the look in his eyes when he woke up.

"Yugi looked like there was nothing left." Tea said.

"His heart and soul had been ripped apart. He barely was able to survive that, and the worst fight he hadn't even started facing yet." Bakura said.

"Still hasn't." Atemu remarked.

"How can this get any worse?" Serenity asked, wiping the tears away.

"It does." Atemu said. He had a feeling he knew what they would be seeing next.

The scene changed completely.

"_Yami." Yugi said timidly._

"_Yeah?" Yami asked, although he was obviously distracted by something._

_The two were in the Game Shop at the entrance to it._

"_Yami, there's something that I want to talk to you about." Yugi said. His voice was laced with pain._

_Yami seemed to ignore the way Yugi sounded. "I don't have time, Yugi. I'm meeting the others." Yami said gruffly before he left the house, slamming the door._

_Yugi bit his lip as if trying to stop himself from crying. There were already tears in his eyes._

_Atemu stood behind Yugi, a look of anger on his face. He soon masked that anger and walked forward. "Yugi?" Atemu asked._

_Yugi turned to look at his friend. "Why, Atemu? Why does Yami hate me?" Yugi asked._

_Atemu walked forward and wrapped his arms around Yugi in a hug. "He doesn't hate you, Yugi. He just has his priorities mixed up right now. He'll realize how he has been acting soon." Atemu said._

_Yugi nodded as he started to cry._

_Atemu tried to calm him down._

"When was that?" Serenity asked.

"After Yugi came home. He tried to tell Yami what happened every day for a month." Atemu answered.

"And you never listened?" Tea asked.

Yami nodded. "I don't know why. I have no excuse." Yami said.

"At least you're not trying to excuse what you did, Yami. That would be worse." Heba said.

Yami nodded.

"Trust me. That alone got worse." Atemu said.

"It did?" Serenity asked.

Atemu nodded.

"I don't see how." Seto muttered.

Yami knew only because his brother had told him.

_Once more, Yami was getting ready to leave the Game Shop._

_Yugi approached Yami attentively._

_Anyone could have seen that Yugi was scared of approaching Yami although only a few would know why._

"_Yami, can I talk to you for a minute?" Yugi asked._

"_Yugi, I have to go over to Seto's mansion. Joey and I have a project to work. I don't have time for you." Yami said before he left the house without looking back._

_Tears filled Yugi's eyes and fell down his face as he started shaking._

"_Yugi?" Atemu asked softly._

_Yugi turned to face the teen who had taken better care of him than his own Yami had. _

_Atemu walked forward and pulled Yugi into a hug, knowing that the boy needed someone to comfort him at the moment._

"_Why, Atemu? Why does Yami hate me so much?" Yugi asked._

_Atemu held Yugi quietly for a moment. His eyes showed that he felt some sort of turmoil. "I don't know, Yugi. I honestly don't know." Atemu said quietly._

_Those simple words made Yugi cry even harder._

_Atemu tightened his grip on Yugi._

"_I-I can't stay here now, Atemu. I can't take it." Yugi said._

_Atemu pulled away to look at Yugi. "Why, Yugi?" Atemu asked._

"_I can't take this anymore. I can't take Yami being here and being like this!" Yugi said as the tears started falling faster. "I can't take him not being willing to talk to me. I can't take him not hearing when I wake up screaming. Knowing he hates me, I can't live here now!" Yugi said._

"_Okay, Yugi. I'll figure something out. I promise." Atemu said as he hugged Yugi again._

_Yugi only nodded._

Yami shocked. He had known that it was bad, but he hadn't thought that it would be that bad. He now saw the real damage that had been done. His own Hikari really, truly believed that he hated him.

And he wasn't the only one.

Everyone was starting to see the pain that Yugi had been in, and they were starting to understand a little more about why Yugi wanted them dead.

_Marik walked into the Game Shop without knocking. "Hey, Yugi! You here?" Marik called._

_There was no answer._

_Marik frowned. "Hey, Yugi! Are you home?" Marik asked._

_There was still no answer._

"_That's weird. I thought that Atemu said Yugi came straight home." Marik remarked. He headed upstairs and to Yugi's room. He knocked on the door. "Yugi, are you in here?" Marik asked._

_Still no response._

"_Yugi?" Marik asked as he opened the door. His eyes widened in horror._

_Yugi was laying on the bed unconscious. He was extremely pale and barely breathing._

_Marik ran over. "Yugi!" Marik exclaimed. He picked up a pill bottle on the bed, and he nearly stopped breathing himself. "Damn it!" Marik growled. He got out his cell phone and dialed a number. "911. I'm at my friend's house. He just swallowed a whole bottle of pain killers." Marik said before he gave he address. He soon hung up. "Come on, Yugi. Hang in there. You're not dying on us." Marik growled._

_An ambulance soon arrived._

_Marik rode with Yugi to the hospital._

_Once there, doctors started to work with Yugi._

_Before long, Atemu arrived soon followed by Bakura, Malik, and Ryou._

"_What happened, Marik?" Atemu demanded._

_Marik sighed. "Yugi swallowed the pain killers. The whole bottle." Marik said._

"_Damn it!" Bakura said angrily._

"_It was too much." Ryou said softly. He shook his head. "Yugi can't handle the memories." Ryou said._

"_Ryou, the rape is only half the problem. Yugi has tried for a solid month to tell Yami what happened, and he's brushed Yugi off every time. Yugi wants to get out of that house." Atemu said._

"_Then he will." Bakura said._

_All eyes turned to Bakura._

"_If the others agree, Yugi can live with us. We all care, we all have been there for Yugi from the beginning, and he knows we won't hurt him." Bakura said._

_Atemu nodded. "It's better than Yugi trying this again." Atemu said. He then looked at Bakura. "But don't you guys keep pain killers in stock at that house for when you and Marik pull your crazy stunts?" Atemu asked._

"_Yeah, but we'll keep them under lock and key. Literally." Bakura said._

_Atemu looked confused._

"_The drawer we keep them in can actually be locked with a key. There's only two keys. We'll keep the drawer locked, and I'll have one key, and one of the others can keep the other key. Yugi won't be able to get them that way." Ryou explained._

"_Okay. It'll work then." Atemu said._

"_Yugi needs out of that house before it ends up destroying him. Yami ignoring him and living in the same house had to be bad enough. This has to be killing him." Marik said._

"_Okay. We'll tell Yugi later." Atemu said._

"_Yeah. He needs something to help." Bakura agreed._

"_Atemu, if you want to, you can stay at the house some since Yugi will be living there." Ryou said._

"_I might. I'm going to need a break from my brother every so often now." Atemu said._

"_To stop yourself from telling him everything?" Marik asked._

"_No. To stop myself from killing him. Right now, I honestly think that I could kill him given all the shit that he has pulled recently." Atemu answered. _

"So, that's when Yugi started living with you guys?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah. He needed it." Bakura said.

"Although none of us ever slept through the night." Marik said.

"Ugh. We didn't need to know that." Tea said.

"Not what I mean." Marik said.

"Yugi never slept through the night after that because of nightmares." Atemu explained.

"At least one of us were up with him for nightmares. We'd just hold him and let him know he was safe while he cried." Malik said.

_Yugi was sitting on the bed he had in the house. He was staring at the Millennium Puzzle. "I don't get it. Why does he hate me so much?" Yugi asked._

_Yugi's grip on the puzzle tightened._

_Yugi's head was down so that his bangs covered his eyes._

"_What did I do that was so wrong?" Yugi asked himself._

_Suddenly, Yugi looked up as his anger reached its peak. He pulled his arm back and threw the Millennium Puzzle across the room._

_The Millennium Puzzle hit the wall with a great amount of force, smashing the puzzle to bits._

"Great Ra!" Atemu exclaimed.

"Yugi broke the puzzle!" Marik exclaimed.

"You didn't know?" Joey asked.

"No. We never knew that Yugi shattered the Millennium Puzzle." Atemu said.

"He was so angry at me that he shattered it." Yami said quietly.

_Yugi then started to cry._

"_I can't take this anymore. I don't want to feel like this anymore. I wish I didn't feel so worthless." Yugi said as he started to sob._

_Arms suddenly wrapped around him._

_Yugi looked up into the eyes of Dark Magician Girl._

"_It's all right, Master Yugi. We're here." Dark Magician Girl said._

_Dark Magician was there as well._

_Celtic Guardian and Magician's Valkyria were gathering up the pieces of the puzzle._

"_I'm sorry. I just-" Yugi started._

"_Do not apologize to us, Master Yugi. It is understandable why you are angry with the Pharaoh. He has caused you more pain than we could imagine." Dark Magician said._

_Yugi nodded._

"Yugi must have rebuilt the puzzle at some point." Tristan said.

"All but the last piece, anyway." Heba said.

"Why was that?" Tea asked.

"Well, I can guess just by knowing my brother as I do." Heba said.

"Start talking." Bakura said.

"Well, to Yugi, the Millennium Puzzle is a symbol of his and Yami's friendship. It's what let them meet in the first place. My guess is that Yugi didn't plan on finishing it until he had that friendship back, if he ever got it back." Heba said.

"Makes sense." Malik said.

_Yugi was curled up on a bed crying. He had his face buried in his arms as his small body was wracked with violent sobs._

'_Why? Why did this happen? What did I do to deserve this? Why did he do this to me?' Yugi asked himself as the sobs continued._

_Yugi never noticed the dark purple energy that seemed to swirl around his room. He noticed how his body started to glow this exact same color._

_All Yugi could feel was the pain in his heart and the pain of the memories that would not go away no matter what Yugi did._

_**Kill him!**_

_Yugi looked up and around, his face stained with tears. "What?" Yugi asked._

_**Go after him!**_

_Yugi was scared now. "Who's there?" Yugi asked._

_**We will help you get revenge on the one who has caused you all this heartache. We will help you make him feel the agony that he ahs put you through. We can help you make him pay!**_

"_I-I don't know who-" Yugi started. He looked down at his hands. He saw that there was a purple tint to his hands. "What?" Yugi asked._

_**We know your pain. We have sensed it. Our master did nothing, but enjoy his own life, never once considering you. He never cared what was happening to you. He never listened to you. He never pain attention to you. He broke his promises to you.**_

_Yugi didn't know who it was that was talking to him. "Who are you talking about?" Yugi asked._

_**Yami, the former pharaoh of Egypt. He is the cause of what has happened to you.**_

"_Who are you?" Yugi asked timidly._

_**We can help you make him pay. We can help you get your revenge. We are the shadows, the source of the Shadow magic that all Yamis possess. Our master has failed in his duty to you, and now we will help you. We will not allow this continue. Let us help you. **_

_Yugi was in so much pain that he didn't know what to do. He wanted something. He was so angry that he needed to get it out. He needed to make others see what had happened. He wanted-he-wanted-he wanted-revenge._

"_All right. Help me. Please." Yugi said. His tone was desperate._

_**Then we will help you. You can make the Pharaoh and all his friends pay for what they have done. We can help you do that. You are our new master. We will help you get the revenge that you need.**_

_Yugi's clothes started to change. The power of the Shadow magic changed Yugi's clothes. He had been wearing his school uniform. Now, he wore very tight, black leather pants. He also had on a tank top along with a black leather jacket. He now wore black boots along with bracelets and a pure black neck belt._

_**Now, we must find them to allow you the chance for you revenge.**_

"_Yes. I need revenge now." Yugi said, his voice now fill of anger._

_Ryou and Malik suddenly burst into the room. Both froze at the sight._

"_M-m-m-Malik? What's happening?" Ryou asked._

"_I don't know." Malik said._

"_Yugi?" Ryou said._

_Yugi turned. His amethyst eyes had turned extremely dark now. So dark that they were almost black._

_However, there was something else in his eyes that scared them both._

_Yugi's eyes were full of anger and hatred. They were full of malice. _

"_Yugi?" Malik asked._

"_No more." Yugi growled in a voice that was twice as strong as his voice normally was. It was a voice full of venom. "He will pay." Yugi said._

"_Yugi, who?" Ryou asked, though he feared the answer._

"_Yami." Yugi growled._

"_No, Yugi. You can't!" Malik said._

"_You can't stop me!" Yugi shouted._

_Suddenly, the power of the Shadow magic was unleashed in a powerful blast, ripping the house apart._

A bright flash of light blinded everyone.

"Now what?" Seto exclaimed.

When the group could see again, they found that they were back in the living room of the Kaiba mansion.

"What was that all about?" Tristan asked.

"I think we saw our mistakes from start to finish." Yami said.

"Mistakes. Those were beyond mistakes. I don't know what to call them." Joey said as he sat down.

"Our catastrophes. That would be the term for it." Seto said.

"No kidding." Mokuba said.

The entire group sat down.

"So, now you have a better idea of what Yugi's been through." Marik said.

"I don't think that we can fully understand it, though." Yami said quietly.

"Yami, we saw it happen firsthand. We don't fully understand. We can't fully understand Yugi's pain. We can only partially understand it." Atemu said.

"The thing is that we have to try and help him in some way." Malik said.

"I wish I knew how." Yami said dejectedly.

Heba reached down and picked up the Millennium Puzzle, which was still in once piece despite the fact that it had been dropped. "I guess somehow the Millennium Puzzle showed us everything. Maybe to allow you all to understand better what has been going on." Heba said. He sighed. "I know that it gave me a better understanding." Heba said.

"I thought you knew." Atemu said.

"I did, but I wasn't here for it like you were. I only had a limited knowledge of it. After all, Yugi didn't let me know every detail of what was going on." Heba said.

"He didn't?" Marik asked.

"No. He didn't put Yami in as bad of a light as he should have." Heba said.

"Why not?" Yami asked, not understanding why Yugi would bother to protect him.

"Probably because he knew that if I knew how bad it really was and how bad he really felt, I would have come out here, and I most likely would have gone with dismemberment as my method of killing you." Heba said.

Yami gulped, knowing that Heba probably would have done that.

"The only reason I haven't after seeing all that is because we need you alive to save Yugi." Heba growled.

Atemu looked at his Hikari wearily. 'I might need to keep Heba as far away from Yami as humanly possible.' Atemu thought.

Bakura smirked. "You know, Heba, I have a machete that you could use whenever you do decide to kill Yami in case you decide to go with dismemberment." Bakura said.

"Bakura!" Ryou scolded.

"What? I'm allowed to dream, aren't I?" Bakura asked.

"Okay. What do we do now?" Seto asked.

Atemu leaned back in his chair. "I don't know, to be honest. We have a lot that we are going to have to deal with." Atemu said. He looked around. "But I don't think that we need to discuss that tonight." Atemu told them.

"Why not?" Joey asked.

"Because all of you learned a lot after going through all that. I know that there is a lot that you need to think about. Besides, you need time to digest everything. I say that we all go to bed." Atemu said.

"You know, he's right. We do need to think about everything that we have heard." Seto said.

Yami nodded. "Right. We can discuss all this tomorrow." Yami said.

"And I think it might be a good idea to bring Ishizu and Odion into all this. They might be able to help us. They understand the ancient aspect to the Yami-Hikari relationship than we do. Maybe they can help us figure out how to help Yugi." Malik said.

"All right. That's not a bad idea, actually." Atemu said.

"So, we go to the museum tomorrow?" Yami asked.

"I think we might just have to chance it." Atemu said.

"We'll be ready then." Seto said.

Everyone then headed upstairs to their rooms.

On the way, Atemu touched Heba's arm.

Heba turned to face him.

"Heba, you can stay with me." Atemu said.

Heba nodded.

The two walked into Atemu's room.

"What's that about?" Tea asked.

"They haven't seen each other in five thousand years. They have a lot to talk about." Yami said.

"Yeah. I'm sure they'll talk." Bakura said with a smirk.

Marik smirked as well. "Yeah. I'm sure we'll be hearing them talking." Marik agreed.

"Okay! Knock it off!" Malik scolded.

"Let's just go." Seto said.

Everyone headed to their own rooms.

* * *

"Heba, we need to talk." Atemu said.

"Look. I wasn't serious about dismembering Yami, Atemu." Heba said. He sat down on the bed. "I don't promise that I won't be yelling a lot." Heba said.

Atemu walked over and sat down beside Heba. "Heba, I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about us." Atemu said.

Heba looked up at him.

"Let's face it. We have a lot that we need to discuss." Atemu said.

"Atemu, I know that I have my memories of ancient Egypt. Don't doubt that." Heba said. He sighed. "I just don't think that we can jump right back into that type of relationship." Heba said.

"What do you mean?" Atemu asked, fearful.

Heba reached over and placed a hand on Atemu's cheek. "I don't want to immediately start a sexual relationship, Atemu. I have changed since being reincarnated in this world. I don't want you to think that I am the exact same person that I was back then." Heba said.

Atemu reached up to cover Heba's hand. "Heba, I know you're not the same. Since being brought back, I have changed myself. I want to get to know the you of this time as I want you to get to know the me of this time. We have changed, Heba. I don't deny that." Atemu said.

"I don't mind dating you, Atemu. I am willing to do that. Just not now." Heba said.

Atemu knew what he meant. "You want to wait until all this with Yugi is settled." Atemu said.

Heba nodded. "Atemu, let's face it. There is a lot that we have to consider right now." Heba said.

"I know that, Heba. Once this over, we can try and figure us out." Atemu said.

Heba smiled. "Thanks for understanding." Heba said.

"Since when have I been able to deny you anything, Little Star?" Atemu asked.

Heba smiled. "Never." Heba said.

"Exactly." Atemu said. He pulled Heba into a hug. "Don't worry about Yugi, Little Star. We'll get him back somehow." Atemu said.

"Thanks, Atemu." Heba said as he leaned against him.

"Anything for you." Atemu said. He had wanted to save Yugi before, but he wanted to even more now that he had Heba back. He wanted to save Heba's brother and his closed friend.

* * *

Yami was lying on his bed.

The instant he laid down, all the memories of what he had seen came back to him.

The images of Yugi in the park, naked and bleeding, as well as the images of Yugi in the hospital bed came flowing back.

Yami closed his eyes as tears started to fall.

'What have I done? How could I have let this happen? I let all this happen. Yugi tried to tell me, and I completely ignored him. He needed me and I wasn't there. Some Yami I am.' Yami thought.

Yami rolled over and buried his face in his pillow as he started to cry. He hated what he had done, he hated what had happened, but most of all, he hated what he had allowed to happen to Yugi.

'How can I make things right?' Yami asked himself.

Yami ended up crying himself to sleep that night.

* * *

No one in the Kaiba mansion slept well.

All were upset over what they had seen in the memories that the Millennium Puzzle had shown them.

Even those who had already been through it were upset by what they saw.

It was a heart-wrenching and enlightening experience.

Now, they had to use it to find a way to save Yugi.

* * *

Hpoe you liked it.

Next: Yami has to answer to someone else about his actions. And it's not Yugi.

I have a poll up on my profile, so please vote in it. It'll be up until I get back from my visit.

R&R.


	14. Wrath of the gods

Here's the next chapter.

Sorry for the delay.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 14- Wrath of the gods

The following morning, everyone had gathered in the dining room to eat breakfast.

Breakfast turned out to be a rather solemn affair for this usually talkative and active group of friends.

Everyone was thinking about everything that they had learned the night before. Those that had already known felt the pain and anger all over again after seeing it for the second time. Those that had an idea of what happened now understood with greater clarity. And those who had had no inkling of what had happened until a short time ago were now dealing with their mistakes given what they had seen. They could no longer deny that they had a lot that they had to try and make up for.

Atemu had something to say. "Do you guys see why we were all so angry at you now?" Atemu asked.

Everyone looked at him.

It was quiet for a moment.

"Yeah. We get it." Tea said softly.

"Maybe we didn't really get it before, but we do now." Joey added.

"We were pretty angry at you all for what you had done, and we had held our anger in only because of Yugi. Once Yugi lost control, we no longer had a reason to hold off on our anger. We let it loose." Bakura remarked.

"And I personally think it was justified." Marik added.

"Marik." Malik growled, glaring at his Yami and boyfriend.

"No, Malik. Marik's right." Yami said.

This time, everyone looked at Yami.

"Marik's right. It was justified. In fact, I think we deserved a lot worse. Thinking back now, I can name a hell of a lot of times that we left Yugi out. I can remember every day that Yugi tried to tell me what had happened over that month. I don't remember many of the excuses, but I remember the actions. Now, I can see the pain and desperation he was in. There's no excuse for brushing him off everyday. We deserved a lot worse." Yami said.

"Thinking back, I can tell you all the times that I saw the pain in Yugi after the rape. I could see that something was badly wrong. It was very bad, and I ignored it. At the time, I said that it was Yami's deal since he was Yugi's dark and he would deal with it. I didn't even ask Yami about it. I was wrong there." Seto said.

"There's no excuse for what we have done, so there's no point in trying to say that we didn't do anything wrong." Tristan remarked.

"I just feel so bad for what happened." Serenity said.

"Yeah, but it's no where near as bad as Yugi feels." Ryou said.

"I don't think that any of us could understand the pain that Yugi is in." Mokuba remarked.

"You can't. We tried over the time that we were trying to help him, but nothing worked." Marik said.

"Is there anything that we can do to help him?" Tea asked.

"Honestly, I don't think that you can because Yugi lost all trust in you. I'm not sure that Yugi would consider any of you friends anymore. I'm not trying to be mean, but that's the truth." Atemu said.

"We know, Atemu. We brought this on ourselves." Yami said softly.

Heba had been quiet for a time. He needed to ask one thing. "Did any of you realize before all this happened that Yugi wasn't around you guys that much?" Heba asked.

The ones the question was directed at look at each other.

It was Tristan that answered. "No. We didn't. It didn't even register." Tristan said.

"Was there a reason for it?" Heba asked.

"Heba, there's no reason we can give. Giving a reason for it is the same as saying that we were justified in our actions or that we weren't wrong, and that's not the case." Yami said. He let out a sigh. "But the answer the question, no, there isn't a reason. I can't think of a single reason why I would do that." Yami said.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Well, now that you have a better understanding of all this, you can't completely blame Yugi for being so angry." Atemu said.

"Not at all." Joey said.

* * *

"I have had it! We cannot allow this to go on any longer!" an angry male voice said.

"Indeed! He has been allowed to get away with it for far too long!" a female voice said, equally as angry.

"It is not our place to interfere with the actions of mortals, but in this case, I am willing to make an exception!" a third voice, male, said angrily.

"Then let's bring him here and deal with the arrogant fool! If he thinks that he is going to get off that easily, he has another thing coming!" a fourth voice, also female, said, completely enraged.

"Yes! We will bring him here, but bring the other Yamis and Hikaris as well! They need to see what happens when a Yami betrays his duty, forgets his Light, endangers his Light, and then blames him for everything that happens!" a third male voice said, pissed off.

"We shall bring them all here!" a sixth voice, also male, said.

"We need to do this now, then." a third voice, also female, said.

* * *

The group was sitting in the living room of the Kaiba mansion.

"Okay. How do we help Yugi?" Joey asked.

"I don't know." Atemu said with a sigh. He leaned his head back against the couch. "We have gone over this again and again, but we have not found an answer as to what we should do." Atemu said.

Yami groaned. "If I wasn't so stupid, this wouldn't have happened." Yami said.

"Well, he's right." Bakura said.

"Bakura!" Ryou growled, not wanting to make things any tenser than they already were.

"What? It's the truth. Yugi's main problem throughout all this was that he never felt same. After what those men did to him, he was completely terrified of every little thing. He never felt completely safe, even with us. The only one who ever made him feel that safe was Yami, but he wasn't there. I'm just saying that it might not have been as hard on Yugi as it was." Bakura said.

"Maybe, but we have no way of knowing that." Malik said.

"Yeah. I know." Bakura muttered.

"Look. Maybe if I just go and talk to Yugi it'll end everything." Yami said.

"No, Yami. Yugi would kill you before you managed to get anything out." Atemu said.

"I have to try, Atemu." Yami said.

"No, Yami. It's way too dangerous. As angry as I am at what happened, I'd rather you didn't get yourself killed in the process of trying to talk to him." Atemu said.

"It won't help at all, anyway." Ryou said.

"I know that it might not help, but I want to do something. I haven't done anything to help Yugi so far, and I want to do something to help him." Yami said.

"You will. Just not yet." Atemu said.

"So, what do we do in the meantime? Yugi has been getting stronger and stronger each time we've faced him." Seto said.

"We know that, Seto." Marik said.

"How do we fight him if he's getting stronger each time?" Seto asked.

"I'd rather know why he keeps getting stronger." Atemu said.

"Well, you once said that Shadow magic gets stronger the more negative emotions it has to feed on. Let's face it. The Shadow magic would have a ton of negative emotions to draw on from Yugi." Ryou said.

"That's true, but I wouldn't have thought that he would ahe gotten as powerful as he is just based on that." Atemu said.

"Well, we all still have our Shadow magic, so we know that he hasn't gotten it from us." Bakura remarked.

"Something strange is going on here." Atemu said.

Suddenly, there was a powerful flash of light.

"What on earth is this?" Joey exclaimed.

"Now what?" Bakura growled.

The light soon died down.

Serenity, Mokuba, Tristan, and Tea were the only ones left in the room.

"Where are they?" Serenity cried.

"This isn't good." Tristan said.

"How could they just vanish like that?" Tea asked worriedly.

"You don't think that Yugi did this, do you?" Serenity asked, scared.

"No. That wasn't Shadow magic." Tristan said.

The other three looked at him.

"How do you know?" Mokuba asked.

"I've seen them use their Shadow magic enough lately to know that that wasn't Shadow magic." Tristan answered.

"Let's hope so." Tea said. She put an arm around Serenity. "Don't worry. With all of them together, I'm sure that they're okay." Tea said.

"I hope that you're right." Serenity said.

* * *

Yami, Atemu, Heba, Ryou, Bakura, Malik, Marik, Seto and Joey all found themselves a place that pure white.

"What is this place?" Joey asked.

Joey's voice seemed to echo.

"It's like there's nothing here.' Seto said.

Heba looked around. "There doesn't seem to be a beginning or an ending to this place." Heba said.

"No. There doesn't." Atemu agreed.

"Great. Who brought us here, and why?" Bakura asked.

There was another flash, and the group found themselves standing in what appeared to be a large throne room made of gold.

"Wow." Joey said.

"Man. Talk about a treasure cove." Bakura said.

"How could someone manage to do this?" Ryou asked.

"I don't know." Yami said.

"We can do whatever we want!" a voice boomed.

Everyone jumped and whirled around to see that there were seven gold thrones in the room. On the thrones sat seven of the gods of Egypt.

Atemu, Yami, Bakura, Marik, Malik, Heba, and Seto all instantly dropped down to their knees in respect to them.

Ryou and Joey were a little lost as to what was going on.

Seto and Bakura grabbed their respective Hikaris and pulled them down as well

Joey started to say something, but Seto gave him a stern look that clearly said not to say a word. Joey knew that look, so he knew that now wasn't the time to start an argument, so he stayed quiet for once.

In the center throne sat Ra, the sun god and the head of all the gods.

Directly on Ra's right sat Horus, the sky god and the god that was connected with the Pharaoh during his lifetime.

Beside Horus sat Hathor, the goddess of love, fertility and women.

Beside Hathor and the last god on Ra's right was Anubis, the god who prepared the dead and healed the living.

Directly on Ra's left sat Osiris, the god of the underworld.

Beside Osiris sat Ma'at, the goddess of truth, right, and orderly conduct.

Beside Ma'at and the last to Ra's left sat Isis, the divine mother.

No one knew why they were there, but those that were from ancient Egypt knew that this couldn't be a good thing.

Ra growled. He stood up. "Pharaoh Yami, you are here because we were the ones who graciously answered your request to remain in the mortal world with a new life. We were under the impression that you would remain by your Light's side and do as you had before, protect him." Ra said.

Yami winced. The words stung, but he knew that they were the truth.

"In the last nine months, you have proven yourself to be nothing but incompetent!" Ra snapped angrily.

"You were in love with your Light, yet instead of telling him that, you chose to date your friend whom you felt no romantic feelings at all!" Horus all but shouted.

"You started to ignore your Light!" Hathor said.

"You abandoned him and left him to those damned bullies, who made his life hell once more!" Osiris hissed.

"You forced you brother to take over the role of protector when it was your duty and responsibly to do so!" Ma'at stated angrily.

"You completely abandoned him, leaving him venerable to anything." Anubis growled.

"You ignored his pain all the time! You only thought of yourself and what you wanted in this life! You said the hell with him!" Isis said.

Yami knew better than to say anything.

Unfortunately, Joey wasn't so inclined. "He never said that!" Joey protested.

"Joey!" Seto hissed.

"Perhaps not with words, but his actions suggested such!" Ra snapped.

"Joey, shut up!" Seto growled lowly.

"But-" Joey started.

"Joey! These are seven of the gods of Egypt! They could strike you down in an instant if they wanted to!" Bakura snapped lowly.

The gods ignored the conversation.

"You are aware that we govern over Hikaris and Yamis. Especially those who originate in ancient Egypt." Ra said.

"Yes, Lord Ra. I do." Yami said quietly.

He hadn't even dared to look up.

"Then you know that we have the power to destroy you and do with your soul as we wish! We can punish you in any way we want to!" Horus spat.

Yami knew where this was going. "Yes. I do." Yami said.

"Pharaoh Yami, you were allowed to remain in the mortal world, but your responsibly to your Light did not change, as it did not change with Marik and Bakura, whom also had their Hikaris at the time. You were supposed to remain with him to protect him. Yet, you failed to do so." Ra said.

Yami mentally winced.

"You chose to go off and live your life in your own way, completely forgetting about your Light. You abandoned him, and left him to deal with everything on his own. You were never there when he needed you. You broke promise after promise to spend time with him. You never had any time for him." Ra said.

"That did not compare to what you did over the last nine months." Isis said.

"Yes. You chose to be off with your friends while your Hikari was on his own. You were having fun when those men chose to attack and rape him. You could have helped him had you kept the link open! You would have known!" Ra said.

"Yugi was left alone in that park. He was left to die! While you were off having fun, your Hikari was suffering!" Hathor growled angrily.

Yami knew that he was in trouble.

"All the times he tried to tell you what had happened, and you always brushed him off for one reason or another. There is absolutely no reason or excuse for it!" Osiris spat.

Atemu, Bakura, Marik, and Seto all cringed at that.

It was a known fact that the gods would always be more sympathetic to Hikaris than they would to Yami.

"Give us one good reason why we should let you live given all that you have done?" Ra demanded.

Yami was quiet for a moment. He knew that he was facing death by the gods' hands, but at the moment, he knew that he deserved it. "I have no excuse." Yami said.

"Yami!" Atemu hissed.

"They'll kill you." Seto added.

"I know that, but after all I've done, I can't take that chance. I won't lie. I know I screwed up. Hell, it goes beyond screwed up. I failed as a Yami! I failed to protect Yugi. I will take whatever they see fit that I deserve." Yami said.

"So, you are not going to offer an excuse?" Anubis asked.

"No. I am not." Yami answered.

"So be it." Ra said.

Heba had watched all this, but he knew one thing. "Lord Ra, may I speak?" Heba asked.

Ra shifted his gaze to Heba. He remembered Heba from back in ancient Egypt. He was more willing to listen to Heba because of the fact that he was a Hikari. "Any objections to this?" Ra asked from the other gods.

There was no objection.

"Speak, Prince Heba." Ra said.

"Lord Ra, I do not deny the fact that Yami deserves whatever you have in mind. He has made a lot of mistakes, and my brother is the one that paid the price for each and every one he made." Heba said.

"Is he trying to get Yami killed?" Bakura muttered to Atemu.

"I hope not." Atemu replied.

"However, I respectfully ask that you wait on giving your judgment on him." Heba said.

"What? Why would you ask that?" Horus demanded.

Ra held out an arm, signaling for the others to remain quiet. "Prince Heba, it was Pharaoh Yami's actions that have caused your brother all this pain. Why would you ask us to delay giving out our judgment?" Ra asked.

"Lord Ra, despite the fact that I am in no way happy with what has happened, we still need Yami at the moment." Heba said.

"What do you mean?" Isis asked.

"You already know the entire situation with my brother. The main source of my brother's anger is Yami. He is truly angry at Yami." Heba said.

"His anger would dissipate if Yami was gone." Anubis pointed out.

"No. It would not. If anything, it might be the final straw that does result in my brother's death. Yugi may act like he wants Yami dead, but he doesn't. I know that after the first major attack at the Kaiba mansion, Yugi had the chance to kill Yami, but he did not take it." Heba said.

Yami looked up in shock.

"Hmm. I know what you mean." Ra said.

A portal to the side appeared.

A replay of the battle took place.

_Yugi formed a sword of Shadow magic once again and walked over to where Yami was laying unconscious. _

_Yami lay on his back._

_Yugi raised the sword._

**_That's right! Kill him! Kill him! KILL HIM!_**

_Yugi looked down at Yami, but all his memories of Yami returned in that moment._

_The sword shook._

_Ryou opened his eyes and groaned. He looked around and was shocked to see Yugi holding a sword above Yami. He gasped in horror. 'Oh no!' Ryou thought frantically._

_Tears filled Yugi's eyes. "Why?' Yugi asked._

_Yugi squeezed his eyes shut tightly and rammed the sword down into the ground, missing Yami by a long shot._

"_WHY? WHY CAN'T I DO IT? WHY CAN'T I KILL HIM?" Yugi shouted as he collapsed to the ground__._

_Ryou was shocked by this. 'He can't do it.' Ryou thought. His eyes widened in realization. 'A part of the real Yugi sill exists. That part won't let him kill Yami.' Ryou thought._

_Yugi was sobbing from the pain._

_Ryou got up and limped over to Yugi. "Yugi." Ryou said gently._

_Yugi jumped up and faced him._

"_Yugi, it's okay." Ryou said softly._

"_No,__it's not! I want to kill him! I want my revenge! Why can't I do it?" Yugi shouted._

"_Because you don't want him to die, Yugi." Ryou said._

"_No! That is not it! Not after what he did to me! What he__let happen to me!" Yugi shouted._

"_Yugi, please don't fight this." Ryou said._

"_I want him dead! He's done too much damage!" Yugi screamed._

"_Then why can't you kill him?" Ryou demanded__._

"_I-I don't know." Yugi said._

"_Yes. You do." Ryou said._

"_No! I will kill him!" Yugi said before he vanished in purple smoke._

This shocked everyone but Ryou.

"Yugi had the chance to kill him." Bakura said.

"And he didn't take it." Marik finished.

"Indeed. Yugi had the chance to kill Pharaoh Yami, and he did not take it." Hathor said.

Ra looked at Heba. "You believe that Yugi does not wish for Yami's death?" Ra asked.

"No. I don't. I honestly believe that Yami may be the key to saving Yugi. I don't know how we're going to be able to do that yet, but we do need Yami to do this. I'm asking that you refrain from it for now. At least until after we save Yugi." Heba said.

Ra and the other gods looked at each other then back at Heba.

"So be it. For now, we will delay our judgment, but do not think that we are done, Pharaoh Yami." Ra said.

"I understand." Yami said. He knew that he would be seeing them again.

There was a flash of light.

* * *

Serenity, Mokuba, Tristan and Tea were all shocked when their friends suddenly returned.

"Big Brother!" Serenity exclaimed, hugging Joey.

"Are you okay?" Mokuba asked, hugging Seto.

"We're okay." Seto said.

"But I'm not." Yami said as he sat down.

"What does that mean?" Tristan asked.

The group explained what had happened while they were with the gods.

"Can they do that?" Tea asked, shocked.

"Yeah. They can. They gave us the chance at this life. They can take it from us." Yami said.

"Now what?" Tristan asked.

"We continue with saving Yugi. We have to focus on that now." Bakura said.

"But Yami-" Tea started.

"Tea." Yami said.

Tea looked at Yami.

"I made the mistakes, Tea. I deserve whatever they decide. I'm just glad that I have the chance to help Yugi before they tell me what they decide." Yami said.

"So, we continue with this. What next?" Tristan asked.

"Well, we know that we have to help Yugi in some way. We just don't know what." Malik said.

"We had originally decided to go and see Ishizu at the museum." Ryou stated.

"Hold it, Ryou!" Atemu said.

"What?" Ryou asked.

"Why didn't you tell us about Yugi having the chance to kill Yami and not taking it?" Atemu asked.

"Um, well-" Ryou trailed off, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Everyone waited for an answer.

"You know, I didn't think about it, honestly." Ryou said.

Bakura looked at Heba. "How did you know?" Bakura asked.

"I have access to the Shadow creatures that Yugi controls. I found out from them." Heba answered.

"Oh." Bakura said.

"In any case, should we go on to the museum?" Ryou asked.

"After this, I think that I just need a break." Joey said.

"No kidding." Bakura agreed.

"So, we'll do that tomorrow." Marik said.

Malik sighed. "I just hope that Ishizu can help us out in some way." Malik said.

"We won't know until we see her." Atemu said.

"What do we do for the rest of the day?" Marik asked.

"I don't know. I guess we just take it easy. We are not taking the chance of leaving this mansion until we go to the museum. With any luck, Yugi won't make an appearance while we're there." Atemu said.

The group slowly spread out.

* * *

"Yami?"

Yami turned from his position on his bed to look at his brother.

"You okay?" Atemu asked.

"No. I deserve death, but I don't want to leave Yugi. I don't want to hurt him again." Yami said. He leaned his back. "But I deserve it." Yami said.

"You don't know what they've decided." Atemu said.

"Yeah. I'm sure they're going to get rid of me." Yami said.

"Yami, light cannot live without darkness. They won't send you away. I don't think they will. You need to focus on Yugi right now." Atemu said.

"I will." Yami said. 'It's all I have to focus on right now. Saving Yugi is all I can do now. If I can't stay to protect him, I'll at least save him from himself.' Yami thought.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The trip to the museum.

R&R.


	15. Revelation

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 15- Revelation

The following morning, the entire group met downstairs for breakfast.

"So, are we going to go through with the idea to go to the museum today and see what Ishizu can tell us about all of this?" Bakura asked.

"We might as well. Ishizu might be the only one who can tell us how to help Yugi." Atemu said.

"How can she know? I mean, Ishizu may know a lot about ancient Egypt, but does she know about this as well?" Joey asked.

"The myth of Yami and Hikari go back to even ancient Egypt, Joey. I know that as a tomb keeper, I learned a great deal about them. I never imagined that I was one myself, but I learned about them." Malik said.

Tea looked at him. "Then why can't you tell us what you know?" Tea asked.

Malik looked rather sheepish as a blush spread across his face. "I didn't exactly want to learn about Yami and Hikaris the way I should have. I didn't care about being a tomb keeper. I learned enough to get by. Sister took every part of being a tomb keeper seriously, so she'll know. Odion probably would, too." Malik answered.

"What about Yugi, though?" Mokuba asked.

"We can't help Yugi until we talk to them, Mokuba." Seto said.

"No. I mean, with us outside, do you think Yugi would try and attack us again?" Mokuba asked.

"It is a possibility, but we need to take the chance." Atemu said.

"I just hope that Ishizu can help us." Yami said.

"If my sister can't help us, Yami, then no one can." Malik said.

"Um, I'm not trying to dis the Egyptian gods or anything, but can't they stop this?" Tristan asked.

"It's true that they have the power to, but they can't interfere in the lives of mortals like us, Tristan. At least, not directly." Atemu said.

"Then how can they punish Yami?" Serenity asked.

"Because we are only alive now because they allowed it. Since Yami, Marik, Bakura, and I technically lived five thousand years ago, they have the power to deal with us in any way that they see fit." Atemu answered.

"So, they can do whatever they want to you guys." Joey said.

"Yeah." Yami said.

"Well, the gods were always more sympathetic to the Hikaris than they were to the Yamis." Seto said.

"Well, the Yamis are the ones who were charged with protecting the Hikaris. I can't blame them." Bakura said.

"I don't blame them. I deserve whatever they throw at me." Yami said.

"At least they are allowing you to help Yugi right now." Ryou said.

"It won't do much good if they take Yami, though. I mean, even if Yami isn't here and Yugi is still alive, Yugi is a Hikari, and he'll need Yami around." Heba said.

"He makes a good point." Bakura said.

"I'm sure that the gods know what they are doing. We just have to deal with this situation now. We'll deal with that when it comes." Atemu said.

Heba looked over at Malik. "Why don't you go and call your sister to make sure that she'll be at the museum, Malik?" Heba asked.

"Sure thing." Malik said.

"After breakfast." Tea said.

Once the group had eaten, Malik called Ishizu.

"_Yes, Malik. What is it?_" Ishizu asked.

"Ishizu, I was wondering if you and Odion were going to be at the museum today." Malik said.

"_Of course we are. Why would you ask that?_" Ishizu asked.

"Well, I'm coming to talk to you, and I wanted to make sure that you were going to be there." Malik said.

"_Well, we will be. Odion and I will be expecting you." _Ishizu said.

"All right, Sister. Thanks." Malik said before hanging up.

"Is he going to be there?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. She said that she and Odion are going to be expecting me." Malik said.

"Why didn't you tell her what was going on?" Marik asked.

"I figure that it'll be easier to explain that in person." Malik said.

"That is unless Ishizu already knows about it." Seto said.

"That is true. She might already know what is going on since she still has the Millennium Necklace." Atemu agreed.

"Come on. Let's get going." Yami said.

The group started to leave the mansion.

"Hold on. Why don't we just teleport?" Marik asked.

The group looked at each other.

"That's a good point." Yami said.

* * *

Ishizu hung up the phone ad turned to look at Odion. "Well, Malik is coming here today." Ishizu said.

"Are the others going to be with him?" Odion asked.

"I do not know, Odion. They need to be. After all, there is much more that they need to know." Ishizu said as she placed her hand on the Millennium Necklace.

"I never imagined that the Pharaoh would allow all this to transpire. I always believed that he, of all the Yamis, would have been the one that would never abandon his Hikari in such a way." Odion remarked.

"Yes. I know." Ishizu said.

* * *

The group arrived at the museum.

"Well, I hope that Ishizu is ready for all of us." Atemu said.

"We'll soon find out." Malik said.

The group walked into the museum and was surprised to find Ishizu and Odion waiting for them.

"We were hoping that all of you would come." Ishizu said.

"I take it that you know." Atemu said.

"Yes. We know about the entire situation. I had thought that you might come to me sooner than this." Ishizu said. She glared at Malik. "You could have come to me when this mess started, and we might have been able to stop some of this from happening." Ishizu said.

"Sorry, Sister. I didn't think about it at the time." Malik said.

"Besides, what difference would it have made? It's not like you could have made Yami change how he was acting." Marik said.

"No, but I could have shown him something that would have made him think twice before continuing with the course of action he had taken." Ishizu replied.

Yami looked at her. "What do you mean?" Yami asked.

"Follow me." Ishizu said before she turned and walked off.

Odion followed right behind Ishizu.

The others followed them.

Ishizu went to a door that was marked 'Museum Personnel Only'.

"We can't go in there." Seto said.

"I don't care what the sign says, Seto. Come with me. There is something that I need to show you all." Ishizu told him before she went in followed by Odion.

"Wow. It must be important for Ishizu to disregard the rules like that." Malik remarked, knowing that his sister rarely ever went against the rules.

The group went into the door and headed down the stairs behind Ishizu and Odion.

Once at the bottom, Ishizu turned on a light switch.

The group looked and saw that there were stone tablets in glass cases on the wall.

"These have not been made public yet. I wanted to wait until after this situation is resolved." Ishizu said.

Atemu walked up to one and noticed that it was in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. "Where did these come from?" Atemu asked.

"An excavation in Egypt came across them. If you read them, you will understand a little better." Ishizu explained.

Yami, Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Seto, Ryou, Malik, and Heba all started to read them since they could all read ancient Egyptian.

There were several gasps once they were read.

"Um, a little translation for those who do not ready these things?" Joey asked, getting frustrated at not knowing what was going on.

"In short, this tablet explains the relationship between a Yami and a Hikari. Both have magic. The Yami has Shadow magic and the Hikari has Light magic." Ishizu said.

"We already know that, and we know that the Yami has the responsibility of protecting the Hikari." Tea said.

"Yes, but you don't understand how deep the connection goes. A Yami and Hikari are supposed to remain together in all ways. They are supposed to be together in the deepest of ways." Ishizu said.

"I don't get it." Serenity said.

Atemu sighed. "A Yami and a Hikari are meant to remain together forever. It means that they are to remain together physically, spiritually, and romantically." Atemu said.

"Romantically?" Tristan asked.

"Yes. They're supposed to be friends and lovers. That is the way it is meant to be." Ishizu said.

Tea gasped. "You mean Yami and Yugi-" Tea started.

"Are meant to be together. There is no way around it. The Yami can survive without the Hikari. However, the Hikari cannot survive without the Yami. If a Yami abandons his or her Hikari, then the Hikari will become vulnerable. In the end, the mental connection between them will become strained until the connection is broken. When that happens, any Hikari who is close to that Hikari will also lose their connection to their Yami and will gain a mental and emotional connection to those Hikaris. By default, the same will happen with the Yamis of those Hikaris." Ishizu said.

"But why were Atemu and I involved in that? I mean, I wasn't there." Heba said.

"No, but Atemu was. Because Atemu was so close to Bakura and Marik, he was also drawn into the connection, which also gives you a connection to them." Ishizu said.

"And I'm connected to Atemu and the others simply because of Yugi's connection to Ryou and Malik." Yami said.

"Yes." Ishizu said.

Yami looked back at the tablet. He now understood. He and Yugi were meant to be together as lovers. It is just the way it was meant to be. Yami's fear that Yugi would not love him was what had driven him to date Tea for that week, even though nothing came of the relationship. Now, Yami realized that he was meant to be with Yugi. It was why he was unable to be happy while dating Tea. He knew that he would not be able to be happy without Yugi.

Something occurred to him.

"Ishizu, you said that the Yami could survive without the Hikari. How is that possible?" Yami asked.

"Because the Yami is so strong. However, just because the Yami lives does not mean anything." Ishizu said.

"Yes. The Yami would become miserable and unhappy. In fact, the Yami would be dwelling on the fact that their Hikari was no longer there. There would be a hole in that Yami's heart that would never be filled." Odion said.

"In short, though they live, they would be miserable." Seto said.

"Yes. It has happened a few times that a Yami lived when their Hikari was gone. However, that Yami usually took their own life within days because they could not bear the pain of losing their Hikari." Ishizu said.

Heba looked over the tablet once again. A question was nagging at him. "Ishizu, what would happen if a Yami dated someone other than the Hikari?" Heba asked.

Every person in the room froze at that question, especially Yami and Tea.

"Yugi was extremely heartbroken by that fact, Heba. There is no way to describe the pain he was in. In many cases, Hikaris would have taken their own life with the knowledge of such a fact." Ishizu said.

"But Yugi didn't." Bakura pointed out.

"No, he didn't." Ishizu said. She turned to face Atemu. "Because of you." Ishizu said.

"Me?" Atemu asked.

Ishizu nodded. "Because you took on Yami's role and played the role of Yugi's Yami as much as possible, it saved him from taking his own life." Ishizu said.

"But it was never truly enough for him." Atemu said.

"It wasn't enough to eradicate the pain, but it kept him from taking his life." Ishizu said.

"So, all of this really did start with the simple fact that Tea and I dated fro that week." Yami said.

"Yes." Ishizu said. She looked at Yami. "It may have seemed like a simple, innocent action, but as far as Yami and Hikari are concerned, you might as well have told him that you hated him and never wanted to see him again. From there, the connection only worsened." Ishizu said.

Yami nodded. "Then this really is my fault." Yami said.

"I'm afraid so." Ishizu said.

"So, how do we get Yugi back?" Seto asked.

"That I don't know, Seto." Ishizu said.

"You don't?" Tea asked.

"No. Something of this magnitude has never happened before. A Hikari has never ended up with their Yami's Shadow magic before. This is something completely new." Ishizu said.

"Then we really are back at square one." Heba said.

"It would seem so." Ishizu said.

"Is there anything else you can tell us that might help?" Serenity asked.

"No. I don't think that there is." Ishizu said.

"Ishizu, do you have any theories as to why it got this bad?" Atemu asked.

Ishizu seemed to hesitate.

"Ishizu, please. Anything you can think of might help us save Yugi." Yami said.

"It's possible that the reason things have gotten so bad is because there was no communication between you and Yugi." Ishizu said.

"Just because of a lack of communication?" Joey asked.

"Something that simple would not cause such a problem in any other relationship can be absolutely devastating in this sort of relationship." Ishizu said.

Heba began thinking. 'If that's what caused this, then is it possible that-' Heba's thoughts trailed off as he looked at the group.

Yami looked rather upset.

'Yami knows that he caused this, and now that he knows that he and Yugi were destined to be together, it makes things that much harder on him. He wants to help Yugi, and he will do whatever it takes to save Yugi.' Heba thought. He bit his lip. 'But the cost he is willing to take may be what destroys Yugi in the end.' Heba thought.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Atemu asked.

"No. I am sorry." Ishizu said.

"Can you use the Millennium Necklace to tell us what will happen?" Seto asked.

"The Millennium Necklace will not show me the future." Ishizu said, placing her hand on the necklace. "I have tried, but I cannot tell. If Yugi will be saved or not is beyond my knowledge." Ishizu said.

"Well, can-" Tristan started.

"No. I cannot tell you Yami's fate either. What the gods have decided I cannot see." Ishizu said.

"I'm not worried about that, Ishizu. I deserve whatever they have in mind. As long as their judgment doesn't hurt Yugi in any way, I'll take whatever they decide." Yami said.

"I wasn't going to ask that." Tristan said.

Ishizu turned to face him. "Then what is it that you wanted to know?" Ishizu asked.

"Can you see who it was that raped Yugi so that we can kill them?" Tristan asked.

"Hey. That's a good question." Bakura said.

"You want to know that?" Ishizu asked.

"Hell, yes! I want to hunt them down and rip them limb from limb for what they did to Yugi." Marik growled.

"We all do." Atemu added.

"Have you ever tried, Ishizu?" Odion asked.

"No." Ishizu said.

"Can you?" Yami asked.

Ishizu sighed. "I can try, but that does not mean that I can see it." Ishizu said.

"Please, just try." Yami said.

Ishizu looked over at Yami, shocked at the pleading tone his voice had taken. 'He is truly sorry.' Ishizu thought, knowing that nothing she had said had helped Yami with his guilt. Releasing a sigh, Ishizu said, "All right. I will try."

The Millennium Necklace glowed.

The group waited impatiently for her to say something.

Ishizu sighed. "I'm sorry. The Millennium Necklace will not show me." Ishizu said.

"It was worth a try." Bakura said.

"We'll have to let Yugi tell us when he wants to." Ryou stated.

Atemu looked at Ishizu. "Thank you for you help, Ishizu." Atemu said.

Ishizu smiled. "I only wish I could have been more help." Ishizu said.

"Well, it's a start." Heba said.

The group then left.

Odion walked up beside Ishizu and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Are you all right, Ishizu?" Odion asked.

"I only hope that they can save Yugi." Ishizu said.

"So do I." Odion said.

* * *

Yami was in his room at the Kaiba mansion. 'Of all the idiotic things I could have done! Yugi and I were supposed to be together! We could have been together!' Yami thought bitterly.

Yami was constantly berating himself now that he knew the truth. He knew that he could have been with Yugi, and none of this would have happened.

'Yugi and I were supposed to be together as lovers. That's the way it is meant to be. Why couldn't I see that?' Yami asked himself.

There was a knock on the door.

"What?" Yami asked.

Atemu opened the door and walked in. "I would ask how you're doing, but I think that would be obvious." Atemu said.

"Yugi and I were supposed to be together, Atemu. That's the way it is meant to be. And I blew it!" Yami groaned.

Atemu sighed. "Yami, you messed up, but you have to fix this." Atemu said.

"How can I? There's no way Yugi could want to be with me now. Besides, after what he's been through, I don't know that he'd ever want to be with anyone." Yami said.

"Yami, you can't give up. Yugi still needs you. You and I both know that." Atemu said.

"Well, at least you have your Hikari back." Yami said.

"Somewhat." Atemu agreed.

Yami looked at his brother. "What do you mean?" Yami asked.

"Well, Heba and I aren't exactly back together." Atemu said.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked. He hoped that his brother wasn't making the same mistake he had.

"Well, Heba knows that we were married five thousand years ago, but he wants us to start over. He doesn't want to jump right back into a relationship because of the fact we were together before. He wants us to get to know each other and date again." Atemu said.

"Well, that's understandable and smart. Heba's changed, and so have you." Yami said.

"Yeah. I know. So, we're not exactly back together because we agreed not to start anything until all this with Yugi is over." Atemu said.

"I hope that's soon." Yami said.

"So do I." Atemu said. He stood up and walked over to Yami. "Everything is going to be all right, Yami. You'll see." Atemu said.

Yami looked up at Atemu. "How can you not hate me?" Yami asked.

"Believe me. I want to, and I was close to it. You haven't denied what you did, and you are sorry for it. You've also tried to make up for it by helping to save Yugi. You're trying." Atemu said.

"For all the good it's done." Yami said.

"Yami, things will be all right. I know they will." Atemu said. He the turned and left the room.

'I wish I could believe that.' Yami thought. He stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out how he could help his Hikari.

* * *

Atemu walked into the living room.

"How's Yami?" Tea asked.

"Given the fact that he just found out that he and Yugi were meant to be together, he's doing fine." Atemu said as he sat down.

"That good." Seto said.

"He's kicking himself in the ass." Atemu said.

"He needs to." Marik said.

Heba sat in his chair, thinking. 'If I'm right, then I know how to help Yugi. The only problem is that it could end up getting Yami killed. If that happens, then Yugi is going to go into a depression, and he'll most likely take his own life. If he doesn't try, then we lose Yugi for good.' Heba thought.

"So, how do we use what we learned to help Yugi?" Bakura asked.

"I don't know. All we really found out was that Yugi and Yami were meant to be together in a romantic relationship." Atemu sad.

"This is my fault." Tea said.

"No, Tea. It's not." Atemu said.

"Yes, it is. I dated Yami. I knew that Yami didn't like me like that, and I went out with him anyway. I knew that I shouldn't have done that, but I did. I knew Yami was in love with Yugi, so I should have said no, but I went out with him." Tea said.

"Tea, you followed your heart. No one can blame you for that. Yami is the one who is at fault. He knew that he didn't care for you in that way, but he went out with you. Yami made the mess, not you." Atemu said.

Tea didn't look convinced.

"Heba, tell her." Atemu said.

There was no answer.

"Heba." Ryou said.

Heba looked up. "What?" Heba asked.

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked.

Heba stood up and started pacing. "I think I know how to help Yugi, and Yami's the one who is going to have to do it." Heba said.

"What's so bad about that?" Serenity asked.

"Better yet, what is it?" Bakura added.

"I think that the reason Yugi is like this is because of the lack of communication. Yugi has bottled up how he felt at the fact that Yami would not listen to him when he tried to tell him what happened the night he was raped. If Yugi could tell Yami how he felt, then maybe Yugi would stop." Heba said.

"Could it really be as simple as that?" Atemu asked.

"Maybe." Heba said.

"So, why don't we tell Yami and end this?" Joey asked.

"Because Yugi might kill Yami in the process, and I don't want Yami to get killed." Heba said.

"We need a plan." Atemu said.

"Yeah. We do." Heba said.

"Should we tell Yami now?" Tristan asked.

"No. Yami will run off and try now. He's so guilt-ridden and so desperate to help Yugi that he wouldn't care about his safety. He'd run and find Yugi now." Atemu said.

"Okay. Let's see what we can figure out." Seto said.

* * *

Yami was shocked.

All he had to do was get Yugi to tell him how he felt, get Yugi to talk to him about what happened and it might end.

Could it really be that simple?

Yami's hand went into a fist.

Yami understood why they didn't want to tell him, but he couldn't wait.

'I know how to save Yugi, and I'm not going to pass it up.' Yami thought.

Yami backed up away from the door and slowly made his way to the door.

Yami knew that he could die. He knew that Yugi might not listen. He knew that Yugi could tell him he hated him or something alone those lines.

At that point, Yami didn't care.

All Yami cared about was saving Yugi.

And if it meant his death, so be it.

Yami reached the door and left he house, also leaving the safety of the shield.

'I'm coming Yugi. I am going to save you no matter what. I will listen to you this time. I won't ignore you.' Yami thought.

Yami left the grounds of Kaiba mansion and headed out to see if he could find Yugi.

No one even knew that Yami had heard what was said; much less that Yami had left the house and was now trying to find Yugi.

* * *

Hope you liked. I know lack of communication might seem like a lame way to say why things got so bad, but I figured it could cause serious problems with Yamis and Hikairs.

Next: Yami confronts Yugi alone.

R&R.


	16. Confrontation

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 16- Confrontation

Yami raced through the streets of Domino, trying to find his Hikari.

'I have to end this, and if this is the only way to save my Hikari, then this is what I will do. I don't care if it costs me my life.' Yami thought.

Now that Yami knew what it would take to save his Hikari, he would take that chance. He wasn't about to let Yugi suffer for his mistakes anymore.

"Yugi! Yugi, where are you?" Yami called.

Yami entered the park and started to look around. He then came to the part of the park that he recognized as the area where Bakura and Marik had found Yugi after he was raped.

Yami's fists clenched into a fist. 'When this is over, and if I survive, I am going to do everything in my power to find out who did this to him and make them pay.' Yami thought angrily.

Yami was extremely angry at the fact that Yugi had been raped, and he wasn't going to let the people who had done that to him get away with it any longer. He would make sure that their end was a slow and painful one.

However, Yami had to save his Hikari first.

"Yugi, I'm alone. There is no one here with me. It will just be between me and you." Yami said, hoping to draw Yugi out.

* * *

Yugi looked up suddenly. He had been sitting in the meadow, but he now stood up.

"So, the bastard finally came out of hiding. I'm surprised that he didn't bring his army to protect him." Yugi said sarcastically.

Yugi had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make his next move, but he couldn't have had a better opportunity than this one.

Yami was alone, with no Shadow magic and no one to protect him.

"It's odd that the Pharaoh would come alone." Yugi muttered.

**Do not worry, Master. You can defeat him now. He cannot stop us. You can finally have your revenge.**

"Yes. I can, can't I? Yami was a fool to think that he would survive if he came out now." Yugi said.

**Now is the time to act. We will help you get the revenge that you are so desperate for.**

Yugi then vanished in purple smoke.

* * *

Yami stood in the park. He sighed and sat down on a bench.

'This is hopeless. Yugi could be anywhere.' Yami thought. He put his head in his hands. 'How could I have let this happen? I'm supposed to be better than this. I'm supposed to protect from everything, not send him into something like this.' Yami thought.

"So, you decided to come out of hiding?" a snide voice said.

Yami looked up sharply and saw Yugi standing right in front of him.

Yugi had a look of pure anger and hatred in his eyes.

Yami flinched at the look, but he stood up to face Yugi, anyway. "I wasn't sure that I'd find you." Yami said.

"If I didn't want you to find me, you wouldn't have. Besides, I have a score to settle with you." Yugi said.

"Yugi, please. Just listen to me." Yami said.

"No. I am through listening to you. That won't happen anymore." Yugi said. His eyes suddenly darkened. "You can't have been so stupid as to have come alone." Yugi said.

"I am here alone, Yugi." Yami said. He didn't comment on the stupid part because he knew it was stupid for him to come alone, but he knew that he had no choice but to come alone.

"How do I know that none of the others will be coming here any moment?" Yugi asked.

"No one even knows that I have left as far as I know." Yami said.

"Then prove it." Yugi said.

"How?" Yami asked.

"Meet me at the abandoned Industrial Illusions warehouse on Domino Pier in fifteen minutes." Yugi said before he vanished in smoke.

"Yugi! Wait!" Yami shouted, reaching a hand forward, but it was too late.

Yugi was gone again.

Yami then had a look of determination to come across his face. 'Fine. If Yugi wants to meet me there, then I will.' Yami thought.

Yami then took off running for Domino Pier.

'I'm sorry, Atemu. I know that you wouldn't want me doing this, but I have to do what is right for Yugi, and this is the only thing that is right for him at the moment.' Yami thought.

Yami continued to run.

* * *

"Okay. We all could be there and try to get Yami to talk to Yugi." Joey said.

Heba shook his head. "Yami talking isn't the point, Joey. Yami has to listen. Yugi needs to tell Yami everything that Yami didn't bother to listen to over this time." Heba said.

"Plus, Yugi needs to tell Yami what he feels. That should help a lot." Ryou added.

"But what if Yugi says that he hates him?" Tea asked.

"Tea, that's a chance that we have to take." Atemu said. He sat down. "But it doesn't help right now. We need to get Yugi to tell Yami all this." Atemu said.

"What do we do then?" Mokuba asked.

"Any scenario that we have come up with so far only leads to all of us getting an ass kicking, and Yami probably getting killed." Marik said.

"There has to be a way to get Yugi to tell Yami what he feels without Yami getting himself killed in the process." Seto said.

"Why not just bring Yami down and ask him?" Tristan asked.

"Because if Yami finds out about all this and we don't come up with a solution, then Yami is going to leave the mansion and find Yugi on his own without us to try and help Yugi." Bakura said.

"Which would most-likely result in Yami's death." Marik finished.

The entire group sighed.

"This is hopeless." Serenity said.

"It's starting to look that way." Malik agreed.

"We know how to save Yugi, but we can't do anything about it." Heba said.

"Any other ideas?" Tea asked.

No one said a word.

"That's a no." Joey said.

"Come on. We have to come up with something." Tristan said.

"It's not that simple, Tristan. There is a lot that we're going to have to take into consideration." Atemu said.

"That's true." Marik agreed.

"So, we're stuck for now." Mokuba said.

"Pretty much." Malik said.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"Hmm. This is an unexpected development." Ra said.

"It would seem that Pharaoh Yami has chosen to go on his own to try and save his Hikari." Isis said.

"It does not excuse what he did!" Horus growled.

"Perhaps not, but it does show true remorse. After all, if he did not feel that, then he would not be going to face his Hikari on his own with no one to help him." Ma'at said.

"It's suicide. He cannot expect to survive something like this." Osiris said.

"He does not. Pharaoh Yami is putting his Hikari first for the first time in a long time." Anubis stated.

"It's about time." Hathor said.

Isis looked over at Ra. "Does this change anything?" Isis asked.

"It changes everything. How much it changes has yet to be decided. We will see how this turns out." Ra said.

"Why can't we just interfere?" Ma'at asked.

"Because we are forbidden from interfering with the lives of mortals. We can interfere with the lives of Pharaoh Yami, Prince Atemu, the tomb robber Bakura, and the tomb keeper Marik because we granted them this second life. Yugi is a different matter. We cannot interfere because of him." Ra said.

"Then we have to watch and see how this plays out." Horus said.

"At this time, that is all that we can do." Ra agreed.

* * *

Yami arrived at the abandoned Industrial Illusions warehouse. He pushed open the door, which creaked loudly as he did.

The warehouse was dark. It was so dark that it was next to impossible to see anything.

Yami walked into the warehouse. He looked around, but was unable to see anything because of the darkness.

BAM!

The door to the warehouse had slammed shut.

Yami jumped in fright at the sudden action.

The warehouse was then filled with laughter.

"So, the mighty pharaoh of Egypt is scared."

Yami immediately recognized the voice as Yugi's. "Yugi, where are you?" Yami asked.

All of sudden, the warehouse was flooded by light.

Yami had to close his eyes at the sudden brightness.

"Is there a problem?" Yugi asked.

Yami looked up and saw that Yugi was standing on an overhanging bridge above the floor.

Yugi stood in what had become his usual attire. He looked down at Yami with a menacing glare. "I didn't think that you'd actually show up." Yugi said.

"I said that I was alone, Yugi, and I am now. No one knows where we are." Yami said.

Yugi smirked. "That's the point." Yugi said. He then swung himself over the bridge and headed for the ground.

Yami gasped in shock and fear at what Yugi had just done, thinking that Yugi would kill himself doing something like that.

However, Yugi landed on his feet without a scratch.

"I'm not the same person you once knew, Yami. I can do things that you wouldn't imagine." Yugi said.

"I can see that." Yami said.

"You were seeking me out. That's a twist. After all, I am the one who has been seeking you for the last few weeks." Yugi said.

"Yugi, please. Just listen to me." Yami said.

Yugi looked at Yami. "Give me one good reason why I should give you the time of day." Yugi said.

Yami was silent.

"Speechless, I see." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I know that I made a lot of mistakes-" Yami started.

"Mistakes? Is that what you call them? Mistakes? I think that they are more than that!" Yugi spat angrily.

"You're right. They are more than that." Yami said.

"I don't even know how to define what you did." Yugi said.

Yami took a deep breath. "Yugi, I know everything. I know that I abandoned you. I know that I turned my back on you for no reason. I know that I put you in the worst possible danger. I know how much pain I put you through." Yami said.

Yugi acted like he was about to say something.

"And I know that you were raped." Yami said.

A flash of pained emotions went through Yugi's eyes at that sentence.

Yami saw this.

And he hated it.

Yami hated seeing such a look in his Hikari's eyes. He knew that it was his fault that such a look existed at all. "Yugi, I know that you tried to tell me for entire month what had happened, and I know that I didn't listen to you. I should have, and I have no excuse for why I didn't listen to you then." Yami said.

"You have no excuse now? You had an excuse then." Yugi said sarcastically.

"Yugi." Yami said softly.

"It always had something to do with your friends. You were either meeting them, had a project to work on with them, and sometimes you just said you didn't have time and left. Didn't even bother with an explanation." Yugi said.

"Yugi, they are your friends, too." Yami said.

"No. They are your friends. They haven't had anything to do with me since you started dating Tea and started to ignore me!" Yugi said angrily.

Yami flinched at those words as he was reminded once more of the actions that had caused all of this to happen. "Yugi, I am sorry." Yami said.

"Sorry? You're sorry? Sorry doesn't mean a damn thing now! It doesn't erase everything that has happened! It doesn't change the fact that you completely ignored me! It doesn't change the fact that you broke promise after promise to me! It doesn't change the fact that while those three men were raping me, you were off having fun with your damned friends! I called out to you for help, and you did absolutely nothing!" Yugi shouted.

Yami winced at that. "Yugi, I know. I know I haven't done right by you in a long time." Yami said.

Yugi clenched his fists tightly. "You don't get it. It doesn't matter if you've realized what you've done wrong or not. I honestly couldn't give a damn. All I want is to get revenge against you." Yugi said.

"Yugi, please stop!" Yami said, getting desperate. He didn't want this. He wanted his Hikari back. "This isn't who you are. You don't seek revenge like this." Yami said.

"That's who I used to be. Thanks to you, I no longer feel that I have to be the sweet and innocent Hikari that everyone knew me to be. Thanks to you, I can get revenge on my own without anyone helping. I've learned that I don't need you or anyone else to deal with what comes my way, and I'm not going to let you or anyone else get away with anything that you have done to me." Yugi said.

Before Yami could respond, a powerful have of Shadow magic hit Yami and sent him flying backwards into the wall.

Yugi then started to walk forward. "I have found that I can get revenge all on my own, and I' m starting with you." Yugi said.

Yami looked up at his Hikari, and he realized just how bad things had gotten. 'How could I have allowed this to happen? Yugi never deserved anything, much less me abandoning him the way I did.' Yami thought. He struggled to get onto his feet.

Yugi reached Yami and ended up grabbing by the throat, lifting Yami off his feet and slamming him back against the wall.

Yami winced at the pain in his back.

"There is no one here to save you this time, Pharaoh. You cannot stop me this time around." Yugi said, his eyes turning black.

"No. I can't." Yami said.

Yugi suddenly turned and threw Yami back into a crate.

Yami hit the crate hard before he slowly slid down so that he was sitting on the ground.

Yugi looked at Yami. 'The great Pharaoh of Egypt has been reduced to this. I can't believe that this weakling is the one who is supposed to protect me. He doesn't even know the meaning of the word protect. The only thing he knows is to be selfish. He doesn't know how to care for another living person.' Yugi thought.

**That's right, Master! Kill the Pharaoh! Make him pay for all the pain and misery that he has caused you! Do not allow to him to live freely without pain and without guilt while you live with those things all the time!**

'Yes. I can do that now.' Yugi thought.

Yami looked up at Yugi, and he knew that he was at a disadvantage here. 'I have to get Yugi to tell me everything he feels, but how can I do that when I can barely stand up to him?' Yami asked himself.

Yugi started to walk to toward Yami. "There is no where to go and hide now, Pharaoh. You can't escape me." Yugi said.

"I'm not going to try and run, Yugi. That would be pointless." Yami said.

"I'm glad that you have decided to be a man and face up to what you have done." Yugi said.

"Yugi, please. Just listen to me for a minute." Yami said.

"No. I'm tired of listening to people. I'm tired of hearing your excuses for everything." Yugi said.

"I'm not making excuses." Yami said.

"I'm sure that you have made all kinds of excuses, but I'm not interested in that anymore." Yugi said, his hands clenched into fists.

Yami knew this wasn't going well. 'I need to get Yugi to tell me what he is feeling, but how can I do that?' Yami asked himself.

Yugi's hands then started to glow purple.

Yami's eyes widened. 'Oh-no! If he decides to use the Shadow magic, then I am done for!' Yami thought, knowing that he didn't stand a chance against the power of Shadow magic.

Two swords were formed in Yugi's hands.

This surprised Yami. He knew from the past battles that Yugi only used one sword, not two.

Yugi then tosses one of the swords to Yami.

Yami easily caught the sword, his skill in swordsmanship from back in his time in Ancient Egypt coming back to him rather quickly.

"Fight me." Yugi said.

Yami was surprised by this. "What?" Yami said.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Are you deaf or stupid? Fight me!" Yugi barked.

"No." Yami said.

Yugi's eyes narrowed. "What?" Yugi growled.

"I won't fight you, Yugi." Yami said.

"After all I have done, you don't want to fight me?" Yugi asked.

"No. I don't." Yami said.

"Why not?" Yugi asked.

"Because I have no reason to fight you, Yugi. You have attacked me. You have tried to kill me. You have said things to me that has hurt more than I could ever imagine. But you were justified in those words. You are justified in being angry with me. You have every right to want me to be dead, Yugi. I know that now." Yami said.

"Do you?" Yugi asked coldly.

"Yes, I do. I know what I did. I abandoned you. I turned my back on you. I hurt you. I betrayed you." Yami said.

"You did a lot more than that." Yugi growled.

Yami swallowed thickly. "I know. I kept the link closed between us, and as a result, I didn't hear you when you called out to me for my help the night you were raped." Yami said.

Yugi was quiet, but the pain that flashed through his eyes was obvious.

Yami saw it and knew that it was still hard for Yugi to deal with the fact that he was raped. "Yugi, I won't fight you. I don't have a reason." Yami said.

"If you don't fight me, then you are going to die." Yugi said coldly.

Yami looked at Yugi and then down to the sword that he held in his hand and than back to Yugi.

The sword fell to the floor with a clank.

"I won't fight you, Yugi." Yami said firmly.

Yugi was shocked. He hadn't expected this.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

The gods were shocked by this.

"Does Pharaoh Yami not realize that if he does not fight that he will die?" Hathor asked.

"This is suicide. Yugi will no doubt kill him without hesitation." Horus said.

"Indeed. What could he hope to gain from all this?" Anubis asked.

Ra looked at the portal before he spoke. "Pharaoh Yami does not want to fight his Hikari. He knows that what he has done is part of the reason that he is in this situation. By not fighting, he is telling Yugi that he knows he was wrong. In Yugi's eyes, Pharaoh Yami fighting would indicate that Yami believed he has done nothing wrong and was fighting to live. By Pharaoh Yami not fighting, he is telling Yugi that he knows that is wrong." Ra said.

"Hmm. Perhaps this could help Yugi realize that killing Pharaoh Yami is not the answer. Perhaps Pharaoh Yami will have the chance to save Yugi." Osiris said.

"This is far from over, though. Yugi is not going to let go of this so easily." Ma'at said.

"She is right. This is not over, but perhaps it is a start." Ra said.

"We can only hope that is the case." Isis said.

The gods continued to watch as this confrontation unfolded.

* * *

"Why do you refuse to fight me?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, I have no reason to. By fighting, I would be saying I did nothing wrong toward you, and I did everything wrong. I cannot fight you, and I will not." Yami said.

"Then you have signed your death warrant." Yugi said.

"So be it." Yami said.

Yugi narrowed his eyes. "Do you care for your life so little?" Yugi asked.

"I care about you that much." Yami answered.

There was a flash of emotion that went through Yugi's eyes.

Yami saw this, but he wasn't able to make out what the emotion was.

'Am I wrong? Should I not fight Yami?' Yugi asked himself. He was starting to have doubts.

**No, Master! You cannot allow him to get away with this! He has done too much harm to you!**

'But I-' Yugi started.

**Forget what you once felt for him! Those feelings meant nothing to him then and they will mean nothing to him now! We are the only ones that you can trust! **

'You are?' Yugi asked.

**Yes! Now, kill him!**

Yugi looked up at Yami. "So be it." Yugi said. He threw out his arm and a wave of Shadow magic hit Yami and sent him crashing backwards into the wall.

Yami let out a cry of pain at this.

Yugi started toward him. "It ends here." Yugi said.

* * *

Joey threw his hands up into the air. "I give up! There is no way in hell that we are going to be able to save Yug!" Joey said.

"Joey! Don't say that!" Tea scolded.

"Tea, we have looked over every angle of this. Everything we come up with only ends with Yami getting killed with the possibility of more of us getting killed. What can we do?" Joey asked.

"Joey's right. Nothing we do is going to help. Someone is going to die regardless." Bakura said, standing with arms crossed leaning against the wall.

Marik rubbed his head. "There has to be something that we can do. We can't just let Yugi kill or get killed. Yugi has suffered enough as it is." Marik said.

"No is arguing with you on that. We just don't know what to do." Seto said.

The entire group grew quiet.

"Is there nothing that we can do?" Serenity asked.

"Not that we have figured out." Ryou said.

Tristan looked around. "Where's Heba?" Tristan asked.

"He went upstairs for something." Atemu answered.

"What?" Malik asked.

"Since we hadn't heard from Yami in a while, Heba thought that he would go up and check on him." Atemu said.

"Check on him or kill him?" Bakura asked.

"I don't know." Atemu admitted.

"AHHHH!"

The sudden scream had them all jumping.

Heba flew into the living room at breakneck speed. "He's gone!" Heba said.

"What?" Atemu asked.

"I went to check on Yami, and he's gone! I checked every room upstairs! Yami is not in the house!" Heba said frantically.

"Where would he go?" Tea asked as everyone jumped up to their feet.

Atemu's blood ran cold. "If Yami was at the door and heard what Heba said about how to save Yugi, then-" Atemu started.

"-Yami left to try and save, Yugi." Bakura continued.

"Even if it kills him." Marik finished.

The entire group went quiet.

"We have to find him!" Mokuba said.

"Where do we start looking?" Seto asked.

"Anywhere and everywhere. We don't have much time. There's no telling what's happening now." Atemu said.

The entire group ran from the mansion and went in different directions in search of Yami, hoping to find him before it was too late.

What they didn't know was that it was too late.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The battle continues.

R&R.


	17. Release

Here's the next chapter.

Just so everyone knows, I'm leaving Wednesday morning, July 13 to go to Georiga. My brohter is on the Air Force and is now deployed, so my mom and I are going down to stay with my sister-in-law and niece until monday, July 19. I probably won't be able to update until Monday.

[blah blah blah]- Ryou to the other Hikaris

[[blah blah blah]]- Malik to the other Hikaris

[[[blah blah blah]]]- Heba to the other Hikaris

[[[[blah blah blah]]]]- Yugi to the other Hikaris

blah blah blah- Bakura to Ryou

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 17- Release

"AHH!"

Yami slammed into the wall with his back hitting the wall hard. He winced in pain as he fell to the ground.

Yugi stalked toward Yami.

Yami was struggling to get up.

"Get up!" Yugi spat.

Yami looked up and was unable to see a shred of his Hikari in those eyes. All he saw was anger and hatred. "Yugi, please. Stop this." Yami said.

Yugi reached down and grabbed Yami by his throat. With strength no one would have thought the small boy would have, Yugi brought Yami to his feet and slammed Yami back into the wall with great strength, causing Yami to cry out in pain once more. "Why the hell should I stop, you heartless bastard? It's not like it should matter. You did everything to hurt me!" Yugi spat.

"Yugi, I didn't-" Yami started, but never got to finish.

Yugi threw Yami across the room.

Yami's back slammed into the floor, and Yami skidded across the floor a little ways before he came to a stop.

Yami squeezed his eyes shut in pain.

Yugi started toward him. "What's the matter, Yami? Did you not think that your sweet and innocent Hikari could do something like this? Did you think that I would never be so violent? Did you think that I'm some weak and helpless brat who needs you?" Yugi asked, each sarcastic word tearing at Yami's heart.

"Yugi, I-" Yami started.

"Shut up! I don't need you anymore! I don't need your help! I don't need your fake sympathy! I don't need your fake concern! I've finally realized the truth about you, Yami! You never cared about me! I never meant a damn thing to you! All I was to you was a way to live again! You just needed me until you got your own body and then you didn't need me anymore!" Yugi spat.

Yami struggled, but finally managed to get on to his feet. "Yugi, please. None of that is true. My concern for you was never fake. I always cared about you. I still do." Yami said.

"Bullshit! You never once cared! It was all about you! You, who was once the great and powerful pharaoh of Egypt, never cared about anyone, but yourself!" Yugi spat angrily.

Yami could feel his heart breaking more and more the more Yugi talked. He couldn't believe how bad things had gotten. He couldn't believe that these words were coming from the Hikari he loved so much. He couldn't believe that Yugi had been turned from the sweet, innocent Hikari that he remembered into this vengeful, hate-filled person. He didn't even recognize his own Hikari, and he was starring him right in the face.

"Yugi, I'm sorry." Yami said.

"ENOUGH!" Yugi shouted. He looked at Yami with nothing but hatred and contempt. "I was a fool to ever trust you! I should have known that you never once cared about me!" Yugi said.

"Yugi, that isn't true!" Yami shouted, some of his fire returning.

"Yes, it is." Yugi hissed. A ball of dark energy formed in his hand before Yugi threw it at Yami.

Yami tried to move out of the way, but was hit in the back. He screamed as he was thrown down.

"It's over. You're not living through this." Yugi said.

The amount of anger and hatred that filled that voice was nothing like the Yugi that Yami had always known and loved.

Yami squeezed his eyes shut as more pain crashed into him, only this pain was not physical pain. This was emotional pain.

Yami's heart was breaking from everything that had happened.

Yugi was no longer the sweet boy that Yami had met. Yugi was a vengeful person with only one goal in mind.

To kill Yami.

'Why did this happen? Why did I let this happen? How could I have been so foolish? This is my fault, and Yugi has every reason to hate me. I am to blame for everything.' Yami thought as tears filled his crimson eyes.

Yugi walked toward him. "Do you get it now, Pharaoh? All this is your fault. You were so concerned about your own damn life that you didn't give a damn about what happened to me! It was all about you! You destroyed everything! You stole him friends! You stole my happiness! You are the reason for all of this!" Yugi snarled.

Yami struggled to get back onto his feet. He was shaky, but he knew that he had to do something. He couldn't just let this continue. "Yugi, please." Yami started.

"Save your breath, Pharaoh! I have no interest in anything that you are saying!" Yugi spat.

Yami winced at that. "Yugi, please listen to me." Yami said.

"Why should I listen to you? You never listened to me!" Yugi said angrily.

Yami cringed, reminded of the way he acted after Yugi returned from the hospital. "I know that I can't give you a good reason for listening to me, Yugi." Yami said.

"Damn right you can't!" Yugi said angrily.

Yami tried to say something, but never got the chance.

Yugi threw out his arm and sent out a wave of Shadow magic.

Yami was hit by it, and he was sent flying backwards, crashing into the floor on his back. Yami bit back a scream of pain at that.

Yugi's eyes flared angrily.

It wasn't enough. Doing all of this wasn't enough.

**Kill him, Master. It is what you want. You will feel better once you make him pay. If he is dead, you will not feel this pain anymore. He betrayed you. You owe him no loyalty. Make him suffer for what his actions caused!**

Yugi's eyes darkened. He started to walk forward, intending to end Yami's life.

* * *

"Damn it! Where the hell could he be?" Atemu asked.

Atemu and Heba had been searching for where Yami was, but they hadn't had any luck in finding him.

"Atemu, calm down. Getting upset isn't going to help in this matter." Heba said.

"Damn it, Heba! If we don't find Yami and Yugi gets to him first, Yami is a dead man! I don't want my brother to die!" Atemu said.

"Neither do I." Heba said lowly.

Atemu looked over at Heba and regretted what he had said. "Heba, I'm sorry. You know that I don't want anything to happen to Yugi, either." Atemu said.

"I know, Atemu." Heba said.

"Heba, despite all that Yami has done, he is still my brother, and I don't want him to die. Not by Yugi. Yugi isn't a killer, and I want to make sure that it stays that way." Atemu said.

Heba nodded. "I know that, Atemu. I don't want that, either. We just have to keep searching." Heba said.

* * *

Marik, Malik, Tea, and Tristan were also looking for Yugi.

"Damn it! Why did that bastard have to run off half-cocked like that?" Marik growled.

"He's trying to help." Tristan said in defense of his friend.

Marik turned to him, his eyes blazing. "How is getting himself killed helping? We need him alive to save Yugi, and if he ends up dying, we're all screwed!" Marik snapped.

"Yami's doing more than you." Tea retorted.

"Shut up, Tea! We've done more for Yugi than Yami has in nine months! Doing this doesn't make up for the damage he has already caused! If we save Yugi, it may take the rest of his life to just get Yugi to see him as a friend again!" Malik shot back.

Tea recoiled. She hadn't thought of that.

"Doing this won't change a damn thing. Yami still dated you when he had no romantic feelings for you. He still abandoned and ignored his Hikari. He left the link closed when Yugi was raped. He failed to listen to Yugi when he tried to tell him. This doesn't erase all that!" Marik snapped before he turned and stalked off.

"If you want to help, keep your mouths shut and look." Malik said before following his Yami.

"Come on, Tea." Tristan said.

The two followed them, thoroughly chastised.

* * *

Bakura and Ryou were searching.

"Where could he be?" Ryou asked.

"Why are we bothering to look for him? Even if we find him, Yugi is going to attack us, and we're going to have to fight him again." Bakura said.

"Bakura, Yami wants to help." Ryou said.

"Getting himself killed isn't helping." Bakura growled.

"Yami just wants to save Yugi. That's all he's thinking about right now." Ryou said.

"It doesn't matter. If he gets himself killed, it's going to screw us all over." Bakura said.

"Let's just find Yugi and hope that we get there before Yugi kills Yami." Ryou said.

The two kept searching.

* * *

Joey, Seto, Serenity, and Mokuba were also searching for Yami.

"Why did Yams have to run off like this?" Joey asked.

"Yami's guilt-ridden over what happened to Yugi. He's going to do anything that he can to save Yugi." Seto said.

"But it's suicide." Mokuba protested.

"Mokuba, the relationship between a Yami and a Hikari is very complicated. Yami knows he'll probably die, but as long as he can save Yugi, Yami doesn't care what happens to himself." Seto said.

"Seto's right. That's why we have to save Yami so that Yami can help us save Yugi." Joey said.

"I just hope that Yugi doesn't kill Yami." Serenity said.

"That's why we've got to find Yami." Seto said.

The group kept looking.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"They will not arrive in time to save Pharaoh Yami." Isis said.

The gods were watching them all.

"They're not even close." Osiris added.

Ma'at look over at Ra. "I know that we wanted to stay out of this, but we must inform them of where Pharaoh Yami and Yugi are. If we do not, then Pharaoh Yami will die by his Hikari's hand and all will be lost." Ma'at said.

Ra watched the different scenes as he contemplated this.

"We are all angry with Pharaoh's Yami's actions toward his Hikari. There isn't one among us who would say that it is not what he deserves." Anubis said.

All of the gods and goddesses nodded their heads in agreement.

"However, we cannot permit this to happen without trying to help stop it. If they can arrive to help, perhaps it can end with no one dying." Anubis said.

"He speaks the truth. If a Hikari kills, then it would destroy the balance of things, especially if it is their Yami that they kill." Hathor added.

"We must try to help at least." Horus said.

* * *

Yugi approached Yami.

Yami looked up at Yugi. "Yugi, please. Don't do this. This isn't who you are. You are not a killer." Yami said in a begging tone. He just wanted his Hikari back to the way he was.

"I've already told you. The Hikari you used to know died long ago. I am what is left." Yugi said angrily.

Yami gulped. He had wanted to save Yugi, not get killed before he managed it. 'I failed him again.' Yami thought.

Yugi formed a sword out of Shadow magic. "It ends here." Yugi said. He raised the sword and prepared to strike.

Yami squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the final blow.

"YUGI! STOP!"

Yugi looked up and saw that all of the others were there. He growled.

Yami recognized the voice as Heba's. 'How did they find me?' Yami asked himself.

"So, it would appear that the great Pharaoh still had to depend on them to come and save you. I suppose you lied to me about this being just between us." Yugi said, glaring at Yami.

Yami struggled to get up. "Yugi, I didn't lie to you. I didn't tell them where to come." Yami said.

Bakura stepped forward. "He's telling the truth, Yugi. We found out through other means." Bakura said.

Yugi's eyes narrowed. "It doesn't matter. It'll save me the trouble of trying to find you later." Yugi remarked.

"Yugi, this has to stop." Atemu said.

"No, Atemu. It won't be stopped until I have my revenge." Yugi said.

"Yugi, revenge isn't the answer. I found that out a long time ago. It only makes things worse. You won't get rid of the pain through revenge, Yugi." Bakura said.

"Let me be the judge of that." Yugi retorted.

"Guys, be ready." Atemu said.

"You four stay back." Marik said, glancing back at Serenity, Mokuba, Tea, and Tristan.

All four nodded.

"Can I assume that we're the last line of defense again?" Ryou asked.

"It's better that way." Atemu said.

Yugi didn't have time to deal with them. 'I was supposed to be able to deal with Yami before I had to deal with them. They have screwed everything up. I don't want to have to deal with them until after I deal with that bastard.' Yugi thought angrily.

**Allow us to restrain them for you, Master. You can deal with the Pharaoh and then turn your attention to them. They can see what will happen to them once you have taken your anger out on the Pharaoh.**

'Do it.' Yugi commanded.

The room around everyone became dark.

"What's going on?" Serenity asked fearfully.

"The room is being flooded with Shadow magic." Bakura said in shock.

"It's Yugi!" Joey exclaimed.

"We have to stop him!" Marik said, starting to move.

Before they had the chance to do anything, tendrils of Shadow magic shot out and wrapped around all of them, pulling them backwards and secured them to the wall.

"Hey! What the hell is this?" Bakura shouted as he tried to use his own Shadow magic to get free.

Atemu, Marik, and Seto tried the same thing.

Heba, Joey, Ryou, and Malik tried to use their Light magic to get out of it, but their magic didn't work, either.

"You're not going to interfere with what I have planned." Yugi said coldly. He was looking at them all with anger and hatred.

"You know, maybe we would have been better off staying out of Yugi's way and letting him do to them what he wanted that first day." Bakura said.

"Bakura!" Ryou scolded.

"What? At least we wouldn't be on Yugi's hit list. And we wouldn't be in the mess that we are in now." Bakura said.

"Bakura, stop it! We all know what the consequences will be if Yugi succeeds. We have to get out of this and stop him." Atemu said.

"What about Yami?" Tea asked fearfully, looking down at where Yami was standing on shaky feet, staring at Yugi who looked ready to strike.

"Until we get out of this, he's on his own." Atemu said regretfully. He wanted to help his brother, but he knew that he couldn't at the present time.

Yugi had long stopped listening to what anyone else was saying and focused on Yami again. "It's just you and me again." Yugi said.

"Yugi, please stop. Kill me if it will make you feel better, but leave the others alone. They didn't do the things that I did." Yami said.

"No. They are just as much at fault as you are. They will pay as well, but you are the one who is going to pay first." Yugi said.

'Damn it! Why did I have to do all this? Why did I have to let all this happen?' Yami asked himself, knowing it was over for him.

Heba got an idea. 'It might just work.' Heba thought.

Yugi threw out his hand and sent Yami crashing into the ground again.

Yami couldn't stop the pained cry that escaped his lips as he crashed painfully to he floor once more.

Yugi seemed rather satisfied by the pained cry that had escaped from Yami.

"YAMI!" Tea cried fearfully.

"Damn it!" Bakura growled.

"He's a dead man." Marik said.

"It's over." Yugi said as he started to walk forward.

'It's now of never.' Heba thought.

Yugi was almost at Yami.

[[[Yugi! Stop!]]] Heba shouted through the mind link.

Ryou and Malik winced at the shout through their link.

Yugi froze.

[Heba, what are doing?] Ryou asked.

Heba didn't answer. [[[Yugi, please stop this. You don't want to kill Yami. I know that you don't. You want him to understand the kind of pain that you are in, but killing him is not the answer. Deep down, you know that, too.]]] Heba said.

[[[[Just get out of my head, Heba! You don't know anything about the way I am feeling!]]]] Yugi retorted.

[[Yugi, he's right. You will regret killing him. He's your Yami. You care about despite what he's done. Ryou cared about Bakura despite his abuse, and I cared about Marik despite the fact that he took over my life and did things that I didn't want him to. You are no different. You don't want to kill him.]] Malik said.

[[[[STOP IT! ALL OF YOU!]]]] Yugi demanded.

The group was stunned.

"What's going on?" Tristan asked.

"Who cares? Yugi stopped, so that's a good thing." Joey said.

Bakura looked at Ryou, Malik, and Heba and then down at Yugi. He saw the glossy-eyed look in their eyes. "The link. Ryou, Malik, and Heba are talking to Yugi through the link." Bakura said.

"Maybe they can reason with him." Marik said.

"No. They won't. They'll try to get Yugi to tell Yami, through words, all of the pain that he's been through." Atemu said.

"I hope it words." Serenity said.

[[[[Just stop it! I need this!]]]] Yugi said.

[[No, Yugi. The Shadow magic has made you think that you need revenge against Yami.]] Malik said.

[You know that you don't want this, Yugi. You just want Yami to see the damage done.] Ryou said gently.

[[[[No! You're wrong! I do want this! I do!]]]] Yugi said. He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself over them.

[[[Tell him, Yugi. Tell Yami how he's hurt you. Tell him the pain you're in. Tell him what you feel. Make him see the pain you've been in. Make him see how wrong he's been.]]] Heba said.

Yugi was confused. He knew what he felt like he wanted to do, but he knew that he didn't want Yami to die. Deep down, he knew that.

**No, Master! Do not listen to them! Listen to us! You will feel better if you kill him! Kill the Pharaoh! Make him suffer for all that he has caused! Do not let them blind you to the truth!**

Yugi lowered his head so that his bangs covered his eyes.

Yami wasn't sure why Yugi had stopped attacking him, but was thankful for the moment of reprieve from the attack.

The others were shocked.

"What's going on?" Mokuba asked.

"I don't know." Atemu said.

"Maybe they were able to reason with him" Tea said hopefully.

"It's too soon to know for sure." Seto said.

There was a tense silence that seemed to last for an eternity give the current situation that they were in. The waiting was more torture than anything.

Finally, Yugi spoke.

"Why?" Yugi asked.

Yami blinked, confused. "What?" Yami asked.

"Why?" Yugi repeated. He jerked his head. His eyes were no longer black. They were Yugi's normal amethyst. His eyes were filled with tears. There was pain, betrayal, shame, self-loathing, and fear in those amethyst eyes. "Why did you abandon me? Why did you throw me aside like I meant nothing? Why did you do everything in your power to hurt me?" Yugi shouted.

This shocked everyone.

Yugi's voice was laced with pain and sorrow.

"Why did you ignore me? Why did you lie about what you were feeling? Why did you turn your back on me?" Yugi screamed as the tears started to fall.

There was now tinge of hopelessness in Yugi's voice.

The sound of Yugi's voice was so heartbreaking that there wasn't a dry eye in the room, including Bakura, Marik, and Seto.

"Why did you close your link that night? Why did you let those men rape me? Why did you ignore me when I cried out to you for help? Why didn't you listen to me when I tried to tell you?" Yugi asked.

Yami felt those words tear at his heart, but he felt even worse. He could see the pain that filled Yugi's eyes. He now saw what he had truly done to Yugi on an emotional level. He saw the pain, and he knew that he had virtually destroyed Yugi with his selfish actions.

Now, Yugi had no fight left in him. He didn't have the strength to do anything, even keep himself on his own two feet.

"Why do you hate me? What did I do to make you hate me so much?" Yugi asked in a voice that could be described only as broken. He then broke down into violent sobs that wracked his small body.

The tears that had filled Yami's eyes now fell down his face.

The tendrils that held the others to wall slowly faded, and they dropped down to the floor unharmed.

The group started to go over to where Yugi and Yami were, but stopped.

A dark purple aura started to surround Yugi and widened it's arc.

"What's that?" Serenity asked fearfully.

"It's Shadow magic." Bakura said.

"I thought this would stop Yugi." Heba said lowly, shocked that it failed.

The Shadow magic spread out until it engulfed both Yami and Yugi.

Yami looked around in complete shock. "What's going on?" Yami asked.

There was a roaring sound that took place.

Yami then noticed his body start to glow in the same dark purple hue.

The Shadow magic then started to die down as it now surrounded Yami. It slowly faded until the Shadow magic had vanished entirely.

Yami looked at his hand. 'It's back. My Shadow magic is back.' Yami thought.

Yami's Shadow magic returned. Bakura thought.

"Are you sure?" Ryou asked aloud.

The group looked at him.

"What?" Bakura asked.

"You said Yami's Shadow magic returned. Did it?" Ryou asked.

Bakura gasped. "Ryou, I thought that." Bakura said.

Marik, Malik, Atemu, and Heba all tried their links.

"The links have returned." Marik said, happy that he had his link with Marik back.

The sound of heart wrenching sobbing reached their ears.

All eyes turned to see that Yugi was on his knees with his hands covering his face, sobbing. He was alone as no one had moved toward him.

Yami looked up at his Hikari and was torn. He wanted to go to him, but felt he had no right.

Atemu walked forward past the group and past his brother and stopped in front of Yugi. He knelt down and pulled Yugi into a hug. "It's okay, Yugi. I'm right here. It's Atemu." Atemu said softly.

Yugi grasped onto Atemu's shirt and buried his face against Atemu's chest, continuing to cry.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"The Shadow magic has returned to Pharaoh Yami." Anubis stated.

"Yes. They have averted a disaster." Hathor agreed.

"That was too close for comfort, though." Horus said.

Ra stood up as he gazed at the seen. "Yugi may be safe, but this is far from over. There is much more to come, and it will be much more painful than this." Ra said.

"Yes. Yugi still must recover from the rape. He has not truly even started to deal with the effects of it." Ma'at said.

"And Pharaoh Yami must be dealt with." Osiris said.

"That will all come in time." Isis said.

"Yes. It will. For now, we can be thankful that this part of it is over." Ra said.

They all knew that the worst part had yet to come.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The aftermath of this.

R&R.


	18. Going Home

Here's the next chapter.

I'll be leaving in the morning for Flordia for a vacation. I won't be back until sometime Sunday, July 25, so I won't be able to update again until Sunday or Monday.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 18- Going Home

Yugi was still crying.

The sound was heartbreaking, and no one knew what to do or what to say to try to help calm Yugi down.

Atemu rubbed Yugi's back gently. "Its okay, Yugi. It's over." Atemu said softly.

Yugi's grip on Atemu tightened. "I'm sorry, Atemu. I'm so sorry." Yugi said, his voice muffled by the fact that his face was still buried again Atemu's chest.

Atemu mentally sighed. 'Yugi has enough emotional baggage as it is with the rape and the ignoring. He doesn't need to feel guilty over all this, too.' Atemu thought. He knew what he had to do. "Sleep." Atemu said, casting a sleep spell on Yugi.

Yugi fell asleep almost instantly, his grip on Atemu loosening.

Atemu then picked Yugi up.

Heba finally snapped out of his grief-induced state of shock and walked over to where his Yami and brother were. "Atemu, is he okay?" Heba asked.

"Somewhat." Atemu said.

"What do you mean?" Bakura asked.

"Yugi's not doing well emotionally right now. He's got a lot that he is going to have to deal with." Atemu answered.

"That's the truth." Marik agreed.

Atemu then turned to face them, Yugi in his arms.

"What's wrong with him?" Tea asked.

"Nothing. I cast a sleep spell on him. It should keep him asleep for at least eight hours." Atemu said.

"So, what now? I mean, is all this over?" Tristan asked.

"As far as Yugi being out-of-control, yeah, that part is over. Yugi's a long way from being okay, though." Ryou said.

"Why?" Tea asked.

"I believe that this is something better discussed back at the mansion." Atemu said.

"He's right. We should get back." Seto agreed.

"Let's just teleport there." Malik stated.

No one argued with that, and the Yamis teleported them back to the Kaiba mansion.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"It is over." Isis said.

"This part at least." Osiris added.

"Perhaps, but there is a great deal more that has to be done before Yugi recovers. He has a long road ahead of himself." Ra remarked.

"So, shall we bring Pharaoh Yami back here and give him our judgment?" Horus asked.

Ra seemed to think about that.

"I thought that once this was all settled we would tell Pharaoh Yami what we had decided." Ma'at said to Ra.

"I had originally planned to do that." Ra agreed.

"Perhaps giving him some time before we do that is in order." Anubis said.

"I agree. I want to see how Pharaoh Yami deals with all this." Ra agreed.

"For what purpose?" Hathor asked.

"I want to see if Pharaoh Yami is truly sorry for what he did, or if all this was an act. Besides, Yugi needs to know of all this before we do anything." Ra said.

"Hmm. He does deserve that. After all, he is the one who was hurt the most because of Pharaoh Yami's actions." Horus said.

"We will wait for the time being. That doesn't mean that we won't watch him to see what he does." Ra said.

The other gods and goddesses all agreed with him.

* * *

~The Kaiba Mansion~

"I'm going to take Yugi upstairs and put him to bed." Atemu said. Without waiting for any response, he turned and headed up the stairs with Yugi in his arms.

Heba then followed his Yami upstairs.

"So, what now?" Tristan asked.

"No idea." Bakura said as the entire group sat down.

Yami had been silent the entire time. He was too busy thinking about what Yugi had said at the warehouse. It was killing him that Yugi thought he hated him.

Hearing the words come from Atemu and seeing Yugi say them in the memories had been hard, but hearing them come from Yugi directly asking him was too much.

Marik looked over at Yami. "Don't you have something to say, Yami?" Marik asked.

"Yeah." Yami said, leaning back in his chair.

Everyone watched him.

"I'm a bastard." Yami said.

"At least you admit it." Bakura said.

Tea started to say something.

"Tea, don't even try to defend me. I may have never tried to excuse this away, but hearing what Yugi said and seeing him break down was more enlightening than anything else was." Yami said.

"It was hard to see." Tristan admitted.

Serenity looked at Ryou and said, "Do you think he will ever forgive us?"

Ryou sighed. "Yugi's very forgiving, Serenity, but I don't think that Yugi is going to be able to forgive anyone easily for this. He has been through a lot, and he has had a lot thrown at him without the proper support to get through this. Besides, there's still the matter of him dealing with the emotional effects of the fact that he was raped." Ryou said.

Seto looked surprised. "You mean Yugi hadn't dealt with that yet?" Seto asked.

"On some level he has, but not entirely. There's a lot that he is going to be going through." Ryou said.

"Then there's the problem of Yugi dealing with what you guys did to him. He's not going to trust you guys for a while." Marik said.

"Then there is the inevitable problem of the fact that Yugi is going to feel guilty about all that he's done in the last few weeks." Malik added.

"What can we do?" Tea asked.

"I think that we need to wait for Atemu and Heba before we discuss what we do next." Seto said.

"You know, there is another problem." Bakura said.

"What's that?" Mokuba asked.

"What the hell are we going to do about where we live? Our house was destroyed." Bakura said.

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Use your Shadow magic to fix it." Ryou said.

Bakura looked at Ryou in surprise. "But you hate it when I use it." Bakura said.

"It'll be easier, faster, and cheaper, Bakura. This is a one-time thing, and it has to look exactly the way it did before. No fancy stuff." Ryou warned.

"Damn." Bakura muttered.

The group shook their heads at that.

* * *

Atemu walked into his own room and set Yugi down on the bed before he covered Yugi up.

"Do you think that he'll be okay?" Heba asked.

Atemu wrapped an arm around Heba's shoulders. "Physically, he's fine. Emotionally, we have a long way to go. There is a lot that Yugi is going to have to deal with." Atemu said.

Heba looked at his brother in sorrow. "I wish that there was something I could do for him." Heba said.

"I do, too. There isn't much we can do for now. The spell will keep him asleep for eight hours. Thankfully, casting a sleep spell also prevents a person from dreaming, so he won't have any nightmares." Atemu said.

"That's good." Heba said.

"Come on. We'd better get downstairs and talk to the others." Atemu said.

Heba nodded.

The two headed back downstairs, leaving Yugi asleep.

* * *

"Well, we might as well go and get started, Marik." Bakura said, standing up.

"What's he talking about?"

The group turned to see Atemu and Heba standing there.

"Bakura and Marik are going to use their Shadow magic to restore our house." Ryou answered.

"Is that a good idea?" Atemu asked.

Marik glared over at Atemu. "What's that supposed to mean?" Marik growled.

"That you two tend to go overboard when you use your Shadow magic for any reason." Atemu answered, ignoring the glare from Marik.

"I've already warned them about that. They're just to repair the house so that it looks the way it did before." Ryou said.

"We will, Ry." Bakura assured him before Bakura and Marik teleported themselves out of the Kaiba mansion.

Malik turned to Ryou. "Are you sure that that was such a good idea? We both know what those two are like." Malik said.

Ryou rubbed the back of his head. "I'm starting to think I just had a lapse in judgment." Ryou said.

"You think?" everyone else asked.

"Anyway, how's Yugi?" Ryou asked.

"Asleep. It's a good thing that the sleep spell doesn't allow a person to dream. He won't have any nightmares that way." Atemu said.

"He won't?" Tristan asked.

"No. The sleep spell doesn't allow the person that it's used on to dream on any level, so that's a good thing." Atemu said as he and Heba sat down.

"So, what's our next move?" Seto asked.

"I have no idea." Atemu said.

The group became silent.

"Is there anything that we can do to help Yugi?" Mokuba asked.

"At this point, I'm not sure that anyone is going to be able to help Yugi at all. There's a lot that Yugi is going to be dealing with, and I have no idea how well he will deal with any of it." Atemu said.

"Well, maybe we'll be able to help." Tea said.

"Like you did before." Heba said angrily.

"That's uncalled for!" Tristan snapped.

"Really? I wouldn't doubt it if there were signs that something terrible had happened to Yugi, and you all ignored them. Yugi went through all this shit with only Bakura, Ryou, Malik, Marik, and Atemu there to help him." Heba said.

"What about you? You knew and you weren't here." Seto retorted.

Heba glared fiercely at them.

Atemu inched away from Heba as far as he could from his place by Heba on the couch. 'They're asking for it.' Atemu thought.

Yami was glad that he was on the other side of the room from Heba and that he hadn't been the one to start this argument. 'They have no idea who it is that they are making angry.' Yami thought.

"I was in Egypt, no where near where Yugi was, and I helped him as much as I could over the phone! You people were in the same city, hell, the same school as Yugi and you didn't do a damn thing to help him! Besides that fact, Yugi told me not to come, and I didn't want to make things harder for him by coming when he had clearly asked me not to!" Heba snapped angrily, his eyes blazing.

Seto and Tristan both cringed at the look.

Atemu looked at Heba warily. "Heba, please calm down." Atemu said.

Heba looked over at Atemu, ready to say something.

"We don't need to have anymore fighting now that we have managed to get Yugi back. There's no need to start getting angry at each other." Atemu said.

Heba was still angry, but kept his mouth shut.

"Anyway, what should we do?" Joey asked, hoping not to anger Heba again.

"Right now, nothing. We need to just let Yugi sleep." Atemu said.

Ryou had something he wanted to ask Atemu, but he knew that it would be better to ask him that question when they were alone.

Bakura and Marik returned them.

"Well, the house is fixed and ready to be lived in again." Bakura announced.

"Good. It'll be good to get back home." Malik said.

"Speaking of which, I think that you two should go home, too." Seto said, looking at Tea and Tristan.

"You think it's safe?" Tristan asked.

"The danger here was Yugi. He's not a threat to any of us now, so you'll be fine at your own homes now." Atemu said.

"Okay. I guess we should head on home." Tea said.

Tea and Tristan got up and headed up the stairs.

Heba then went upstairs as well.

"Where's he going?" Marik asked.

"Tristan made the mistake of pissing Heba off earlier. He doesn't trust Tristan upstairs with Yugi. He's probably going there." Atemu answered.

"And Tristan's actually alive after facing Heba's temper?" Bakura asked.

"It wasn't at full blast." Atemu answered.

"That makes sense." Marik said.

* * *

Heba walked into the room that was Atemu's.

Yugi was still asleep.

Heba walked over and sat on the edge of the bed by Yugi.

Heba had gone upstairs because he didn't trust Tristan near Yugi right then, but he had also gone up so that he could calm down. He knew that he needed to concentrate on Yugi right then.

Heba reached over and brushed Yugi's bags out of his eyes. "I'm sorry that you went through all this, Yugi, but you have me here now. I'm not letting you go through this alone anymore." Heba said gently.

Heba was more upset over all that had happened to his brother than he had ever let on, but he wanted to help his brother recover from everything that had happened to Yugi over the last ten months.

"I'm not leaving you." Heba said again. He then lay down by his brother and took Yugi's hand in his. It wasn't long before Heba fell asleep as well.

* * *

Tristan and Tea left the mansion to go back to their separate homes.

Ryou, Bakura, Marik, and Malik had gone back to their house to try to get things back in order while they had the chance.

That left Atemu, Yami, Seto, Joey, Serenity, and Mokuba left downstairs with Heba still upstairs.

"This has been a long two weeks." Joey said.

"No kidding. I'm glad that I finally get my house back." Seto said.

Joey glared at him.

"What? My house has been overrun for the last two weeks, and I have no shame in saying that I didn't like it." Seto said.

"Well, it'll just be back to the four of you before long." Atemu said.

"Just out of curiosity, where is Heba going to stay? The only other bedroom in the house is Grandpa's, and he'll be coming back before long." Yami said.

"I suppose Heba will probably share Yugi's room." Atemu said. 'If Yugi comes back home at all.' Atemu thought. He knew that there was a chance that Yugi wouldn't want to go back to the house because of Yami.

"Where's Heba anyway?" Serenity asked.

"I guess he's still upstairs with Yugi." Atemu replied, glancing at the stairs.

Seto glanced at his watch. "It's been four hours since you cast that spell." Seto said.

"I know. Yugi will be asleep for another four." Atemu said as he leaned back against the couch.

An uneasy silence fell over the room.

Slowly, Serenity, Mokuba, Joey, and Seto left the room.

Yami and Atemu were left alone in the living room.

"I screwed up badly." Yami finally said.

"I know." Atemu said. He looked up at Yami. "Don't expect Yugi to welcome you back with open arms, Yami. That only happens in fairy tales." Atemu said.

"I know. There is no way that Yugi would do that this time around." Yami said softly. He wasn't expecting Yugi to be friendly with him now, either.

Atemu sighed. "Yami, I honestly don't know what you can do to try and make this up to Yugi." Atemu said.

"That makes two of us." Yami said.

"Just be prepared to work hard to regain Yugi's trust." Atemu said.

"If something like that is possible." Yami added.

* * *

~Four Hours Later~

Atemu had ordered Heba to go to the Game Shop and get a proper night's sleep after two more hours.

Heba had tried to protest, but Atemu wouldn't budge on it, so Heba finally went home with Yami, who decided to go on back to the Game Shop as well.

Atemu remained at the Kaiba mansion with Yugi. He had thought about taking Yugi back to the Game Shop, but he wasn't sure how Yugi would react to it, so he felt that it would be best for Yugi to remain where he was until he woke up.

Yugi let out a low groan as he slowly woke up. He opened his eyes and found himself in a room. He didn't recognize it. He sat up and all the memories of the past month flowed back.

"Yugi."

Yugi turned and looked at Atemu. "Atemu, I'm so sorry." Yugi said as he started crying.

Atemu moved to sit beside Yugi and wrapped his arms around Yugi. "It's okay, Yugi. I understand." Atemu said.

"I was wrong, and I could have killed everyone. Everyone must hate me." Yugi said as he started sobbing.

Atemu rubbed Yugi's back. "It's okay, Yugi. No one hates you. Everyone understands now." Atemu said.

Yugi looked up. "But I-" Yugi started.

"Yugi, they know the truth now, and they understand. They know that they did a lot wrong." Atemu said as he wiped the tears from Yugi's face.

Yugi nodded. "Where am I?" Yugi asked.

"The Kaiba mansion." Atemu said.

Yugi's eyes widened. "Atemu, I can't be here! I want to leave!" Yugi said. He didn't like being near four of the people that had hurt him so much recently.

"Okay, Yugi. We'll go home." Atemu said.

Yugi shook his head fervently. "No! I can't go back there!" Yugi said. The thought of being that close to Yami only made him even more upset.

Atemu sighed. "Okay, Yugi. I'll take you over to Ryou's house. You can stay with them until you want to come home." Atemu said.

"But I-" Yugi started.

"Bakura and Marik used their Shadow magic it fix the house, and none of them are angry at you, Yugi. They understand just as I do." Atemu said.

"Where's Heba?" Yugi asked.

"He's at the Game Shop. He'll understand, Yugi. You can still see him." Atemu said.

Yugi nodded.

"I'm going to go tell Seto that we're leaving. Don't worry. No one will come in here while I'm gone." Atemu said.

Yugi nodded, though he was hesitant to be away from Atemu while in that house.

Atemu left the room and found Seto. He told him what was going on.

"So, he's scared?" Seto asked.

"Yes. He doesn't know how to react to you guys because of what already happened and with what he's done over the last few weeks. It'll be better for him if I get him out of here." Atemu said.

"Okay." Seto said.

Atemu walked back to the room Yugi was in. "Come on." Atemu said.

Yugi walked over to Atemu, and Atemu teleported out of the Kaiba mansion.

* * *

Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik were surprised when Atemu and Yugi suddenly appeared.

It was obvious that Yugi was uneasy.

"Yugi, are you okay?" Ryou asked.

"I-I don't know." Yugi said.

It was clear from the look in his eyes that he was far from all right. His eyes were still filled with pain and shame.

"Come on, Yugi. Let's get you up to your room." Malik said.

Yugi nodded and let the two Hikaris lead him upstairs.

"Still doesn't want to go home?" Bakura asked.

"No. I don't think that he's going to want Yami and the others near him for a while." Atemu said.

"I can't blame him. He's not just going to immediately be friendly with them. Hell, I'd still kill them." Marik said.

"Lucky for us, Yugi is not you. Is it okay if he stays here for a while?" Atemu asked.

"He can stay as long as he needs to." Bakura answered.

"Thanks. I'd better get home and let Yami and Heba know about this." Atemu said.

"Heba will be a regular visitor, won't he?" Bakura asked.

"Probably." Atemu said before he left.

* * *

Ryou, Malik, and Yugi were all in the room that Yugi used.

"Yugi, are you really okay?" Ryou asked.

"I don't know. I don't know what to do." Yugi said. His voice started to get choked up.

Ryou wrapped an arm around Yugi. "It'll be okay, Yugi. You're not alone." Ryou said.

Yugi nodded.

"Besides, Yami and the others know the truth now, so they won't be such asses to you." Malik said.

Yugi then shook his head. "No! I don't want to see them at all! Any of them!" Yugi said. He was still scared.

"They won't hurt you, Yugi, but you don't have to see them until you're ready." Ryou said.

"I know they hate me." Yugi said.

"No, Yugi. They don't. They finally understand what they did wrong, but they won't see you until you're ready. You may see them at school, but we'll make sure that they don't approach you, okay?" Ryou asked.

Yugi nodded.

Malik left the room and returned with something.

"Where did you get that?" Yugi asked, surprised to see his completed Millennium Puzzle in Malik's hand.

"We found it, and Heba put the last piece in. It showed them all some of the memories from what they did." Malik said.

"Oh." Yugi said.

"It is yours." Malik said.

"I don't want it right now." Yugi said.

"Okay. We'll keep it until you want it back, Yugi." Ryou said.

Yugi nodded.

"Is there anything you need?" Ryou asked.

"I think I'll take a shower and then I'll make dinner." Yugi said.

"Okay, Yugi." Ryou said.

Ryou and Malik left the room.

Yugi got some clothes and went to take a shower, trying not to think about what had been happening. Once Yugi was done, he went downstairs to make dinner for them all.

* * *

Yami and Heba were both shocked when Atemu returned home without Yugi.

"Where's Yugi?" both demanded at the same time.

"Calm down. Yugi's fine. He almost freaked out when he found out that he was at Seto's mansion, and he didn't react well to the idea of coming here, so I took him to Ryou's house. He'll stay with them for now." Atemu said.

"Because of me." Yami said knowingly.

"I'm afraid so." Atemu said.

"There's no reason for Yugi to stay away from his home. I'll leave and let Yugi stay here." Yami said.

"No, Yami. Yugi wouldn't agree to it. He's fine there. Ryou and the others know how to take care of him. Heba, you can go see him whenever you want." Atemu said.

Heba nodded.

"So, what now?" Yami asked.

Atemu sat down on the couch with Heba. Yami was sitting in the recliner.

"I don't think you're going to have an easy time, Yami. Yugi was already convinced that you hate, so he's sure that you hate him even more because of what's happened over the last few weeks." Atemu said.

"But-" Yami started.

Atemu held up his hand. "I know, Yami. I know that none of that is true, but Yugi doesn't know that, and there is no way that Yugi is going to believe that right now, even coming from me or Heba. Besides, Yugi thinks that Joey, Seto, Serenity, Mokuba, Tea, and Tristan hate him, too. He's afraid to be near any of you even more now." Atemu said.

"Meaning we're not going to be able to help him right now." Yami said.

"I'm afraid so. I know you want to try and make things up to Yugi, but you're not going to be able to right now. Yugi being afraid is going to make things hard, but you all have to wait until Yugi is ready to talk to you guys and give you a chance. If you push too hard, you're just going to push him away and make things worse." Atemu said.

Yami sighed. "I understand. It should be up to Yugi." Yami agreed. He then stood up. "I'm going to bed." Yami said before he left the room.

"Yami took that well." Heba said when he heard Yami's door shut.

"He doesn't have a choice, but to accept this, Heba. Yami knows that unless he lets Yugi calls the shots in all this, he will never have the chance to make things up to Yugi." Atemu said.

"I think I get it." Heba said. He was silent for a moment before he said, "Do you think Yugi will give them a chance?"

"I don't know." Atemu admitted truthfully.

* * *

Yami walked into the room and sat down on his bed. He put his head in his hands. 'I am a complete and total bastard.' Yami thought.

Yami was still beating himself up about the fact that he had allowed things to get so bad for Yugi. He felt guilty over all that had happened. He knew that he was at fault.

Yami also wanted the chance to make things up to Yugi. He wanted to show his Hikari that he was truly sorry. He wanted Yugi to know that he cared for him a great deal, that he loved him.

But Yami knew that he had to wait until Yugi was ready to hear it.

Yami reached over to the nightstand and picked up a picture of him and Yugi. It had been taken shortly after Yami had gotten his own body.

'We were so close and happy then. Now, we're as distant as possible and we're not happy.' Yami thought. He set the picture back down and released a sigh. He lay back down on the bed. 'I am going to try and make things up to Yugi, the gods willing.' Yami thought.

Yami hadn't forgotten that the gods were still going to pass judgment on him, so he knew that he didn't have much time to try.

'But I'll wait for Yugi as long as it takes.' Yami thought, determined.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"So, Pharaoh Yami is more determined than we thought." Anubis said.

"Indeed. He plans to wait as long as needs to in order to talk to him." Isis said.

Ra looked on. "I do not know if we should give him the time he needs." Ra said.

"Perhaps waiting a while longer will not hurt." Horus said.

"Besides, we need to tell Yugi of all this, and I don't think telling him now would be good for anyone." Hathor said.

"Hmm. You all make good points. We will give Pharaoh Yami a little more time." Ra agreed.

The gods were in agreement over this.

* * *

Yugi was back in his room. He was sitting on the bed thinking about all that had happened.

Yugi kept thinking over what had happened in the last few weeks.

'Yami has to hate me. I know it.' Yugi thought.

Yugi couldn't help but think of how Yami had acted after he had learned what had happened.

'I just wonder if Yami is seriously worried about me. I know he hates, but why would he risk his life to help me?' Yugi asked himself.

Yugi was very confused at the moment and didn't know what to do.

'I need to stay away from them for now. I just can't deal with Yami and the others right now.' Yugi thought.

Yugi knew that he wasn't ready to face Yami or any of the others yet, and he knew that he was far from okay.

'I can't handle all this now. I hope Atemu understands that I just can't face Yami right now.' Yugi thought.

Yugi then lay down to try and go to sleep, hoping that he wouldn't have any nightmares about the night he was raped.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I'm not going to let Yami and the others have it easy as far as Yugi trusting them again goes. It'll be a process.

Next: Yugi avoids Yami and the others.

R&R.


	19. Avoidance

Here's the next chapter.

Sorry for the delay.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 19- Avoidance

~One Week Later~

A week had passed by, and Yugi did everything in his power to stay away from Yami and all the others. He didn't want to be anywhere near them.

It wasn't easy to avoid them all the time, but Yugi was able to do just that, with a little help from Heba, Ryou, Malik, Bakura, Marik, and Atemu.

Whenever Yugi might be out with someone, and he saw one of them, he would always leave and go the other way with one of them while the rest stalled whomever it was that they had happened to run into.

Yugi knew that he couldn't run forever, but he wasn't ready to face any of them. The pain of their betrayal was still far too fresh, and he still believed that they hated him.

* * *

Yugi was lying on his bed in the room he had at Ryou's house.

There was a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" Yugi said.

Atemu opened the door and walked in. "Hey, Yugi. How are you doing?" Atemu asked as he sat down in the chair at Yugi's desk.

"I'm okay." Yugi said.

The look in his eyes told a different story.

"Yugi, the truth." Atemu said.

Yugi looked up at Atemu and offered a weak smile. "I never could keep anything from you. Not since you started to get to know me so well." Yugi said.

"That's right. Now, what is it?" Atemu asked.

"I was taking a nap, and I had another nightmare." Yugi said quietly.

Atemu knew what about. He moved so that he was sitting beside Yugi on the bed. He wrapped his arms around Yugi and pulled him close.

Yugi turned and buried his face into Atemu's chest. "It's always like its happening. I can feel everything all over again. It's like they're there. I can still hear them laughing and calling me-" Yugi couldn't continue as he started to sob.

Atemu pulled Yugi into his lap and started to rub his back. "Its okay, Yugi. They're not going to get to you again. You're safe." Atemu said.

"I want to believe that, but I can't." Yugi said.

"Yugi," Atemu said, pulling Yugi away so that he could look in the face, "I want you to tell me what they said to you."

Yugi's eyes widened in horror at that.

"Yugi, I know it's hard to remember that, but I need to know." Atemu said.

Yugi looked down and squeezed his eyes shut.

Atemu thought for a moment that Yugi wasn't going to answer and started to say something.

"I only remember two things. I don't have a very clear memory of it." Yugi said in a small voice.

"What were they, Yugi?" Atemu asked gently.

"T-they called me a-a slut and a wh-whore." Yugi answered as tears started to fall again.

Atemu placed a hand under Yugi's chin and forced Yugi to look at him. "Yugi, I want you to listen to me. You are neither of those things." Atemu said.

"But-" Yugi started.

"No buts, Yugi. A slut is someone who sleeps around with anyone and everyone who will. A whore is the same thing. You are neither of those things." Atemu said.

It was clear that Yugi didn't believe it.

"Yugi, you were a virgin when those men attacked you. You didn't want what they did to you. **You **did nothing wrong. **You **are innocent in all this. Don't blame yourself for this." Atemu said.

"I-it's just so hard to." Yugi said, biting his lip to stop the sobs.

"Yugi, don't believe anything that those men told you. They are the ones who are in the wrong. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't have the strength to fight them off. You couldn't have stopped them." Atemu said.

"I know." Yugi said in a choked voice.

"You did nothing wrong, Yugi." Atemu said.

Yugi nodded.

"Yugi-" Atemu started.

"I believe you, Atemu, and I know that you're right. I spent so long believing that it was true that it might take a while." Yugi said.

"All right, Yugi. I just don't want you to feel this way anymore." Atemu said.

Yugi looked up. "I know. I guess I'm just having trouble with it." Yugi said.

Atemu pulled Yugi into a hug. "Don't worry about it, Yugi. I understand." Atemu said.

Yugi leaned against him.

"Yugi, are you still uneasy about being around Yami and the others?" Atemu asked.

Yugi tensed at that. "I don't want to see them, Atemu. I can't." Yugi said. He pulled back to look at Atemu with pleading eyes. "Don't let them come here. I don't want to see them. I can't." Yugi said, desperation in his voice

"Its okay, Yugi. We won't let them near you if you don't want them near you. My point is that school starts back on Monday, and we needed to know if we're going to have to run interference for you while we're there." Atemu said.

Yugi gave another weak smile. "I guess it's a good thing that I have at least one class with you, Marik, and Bakura each." Yugi said.

"Yes. It is." Atemu agreed.

Yugi leaned against Atemu. "I'm sorry about this, Atemu. I know that I'm keeping you form Heba." Yugi said softly.

"Yugi, Heba knows that we're close, and he knows that the feelings we have for each other are simply feelings of brotherly love. In fact, he's glad that you trust me so much." Atemu said.

"And he's happy that I do have someone to lean on when he's not around, and he trusts you over Bakura and Marik despite the fact that he knows that they are not going to hurt me." Yugi said.

"Exactly." Atemu said.

"School will be hard. I won't have to talk to them, but I will have to see them." Yugi said. He dreaded that.

Atemu frowned. "Yugi, why are you avoiding them so much?" Atemu asked.

Yugi looked away. "You know why." Yugi muttered.

"There is a new reason, Yugi." Atemu said.

"I don't want to talk it about it, Atemu. Okay?" Yugi said.

"All right, Yugi. I just want to make sure that you know that we are all here for you." Atemu said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"All right. I'm going downstairs. Ryou and Marik are here, too. Call if you need anything." Atemu said before he set Yugi on the bed and headed to the door.

"Where are Bakura and Malik?" Yugi asked.

"Malik went to get groceries. I don't want to know what Bakura is up to." Atemu said.

"So we can tell the police we honestly don't know where he was or what he was up to." Yugi said.

"Exactly." Atemu said before he left the room.

Yugi then lay back down on the bed, his head resting on the pillow.

Yugi's penchant for avoiding Yami and the others did partly have to do with the fact that he couldn't just get over the fact that they had ignored him and virtually spit on their friendship. That had played a large part in it all, but it wasn't the only reason Yugi had.

Yugi was afraid of them. He was afraid to trust them again because they had betrayed his trust so easily before. He didn't want to be hurt like that again.

Plus, he was afraid of what they would say or do to him. He knew that he had done a lot to them during the time that he had been under the influence of Yami's Shadow magic. He was afraid that they would lash out and hurt him, both physically and emotionally. He didn't want to have to face that right now. It would be far too much.

In addition, Yugi knew for a fact that they hated him. He knew that there was no way they could care about him anymore. He didn't want to have to face that hatred. He didn't want to see it in their faces. He didn't want to hear it. After all, if they were really his friends, they wouldn't have abandoned him the way they had. Yugi didn't believe that they really thought of him as friend.

Above all that, Yugi was afraid of Yami. He wanted to know why Yami hated him, but at the same time, he didn't want to know. It would make the hate all too real. He needed to know, but he geared to know the reason. He was afraid that it was something he couldn't change. Losing Yami's friendship was more horrifying to Yugi than anything else was. He wouldn't be able to handle knowing exactly why Yami hated him so much, and he didn't want to take that chance.

Besides, Yugi didn't want to see the looks of disgust in their eyes.

After all, they had never been his friends to begin with.

Yugi was certain that they would look at him with scorn and disgust at the knowledge that he had been raped by three men.

That was something Yugi couldn't bare.

Yugi turned and buried his face in his pillow, trying to block those thoughts from his mind.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yami had gone to the Kaiba mansion where he was meeting Seto, Joey, Serenity, Mokuba, Tea, and Tristan.

Now, Yami was starting to wish he hadn't bothered.

"I can't believe how selfish Yugi is being! We just want to talk and try to make things right with him, and he runs away like a coward every time we see him!" Tristan said.

"Yeah. How can he expect us to make things right when he won't talk to us?" Tea added.

Yami rubbed his forehead. 'Is that why they all wanted to meet over here? To berate Yugi?' Yami asked himself.

"Tristan, aren't you being a little hard on Yugi?" Serenity asked.

"Of course not! We're just trying to make things right." Tristan said.

"How? By scaring the daylights out of him?" Joey asked.

"We're not trying to do that!" Tristan argued.

"Maybe not, but that's what we're doing. Tristan, without a reason, we started to ignore him. If it had been for a few days or even a few weeks, I might agree with you, but it was pretty much ten months!" Joey said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Tristan asked.

"Tristan, you were not ignored and treated like you didn't matter or didn't exist for all that time. Yugi did. He felt ignored, alone, and betrayed. You can't expect him to just welcome up back with open arms now that we realize what we did." Joey said.

"No joke. Yugi may be very forgiving, but I don't think that even Yugi has the ability to let something of that magnitude go. Being ignored for all that time couldn't have been easy. It had to remind Yugi of the time when he didn't have any friends." Seto said.

"Still, how are we going to make things up to him when Yugi keeps on running away from us?" Tea asked.

"Yeah. We just want to make things right." Tristan said.

"How, Tristan?" Yami asked.

All eyes turned to Yami, who hadn't said a word the entire hour that they had all been at the mansion.

Yami's eyes were burning with anger. He couldn't stand the way Tristan was talking about his Hikari. "How do you think we can make this up to him?" Yami demanded.

Tristan felt intimated by the amount of anger that shone in Yami's crimson eyes. "Well, we could explain to him that we're sorry for what we did, and that we never meant to hurt him." Tristan said.

"THAT won't help matters at all, Tristan. Apologies are not going to help in this instance." Yami said.

"It's not that I mean to sound like this, but we can't try to make amends without talking to Yugi." Mokuba pointed out.

Yami rubbed his head again, feeling his headache getting worse.

"Yami?" Tea asked.

Yami looked up, looking even angrier if that was possible. "Who the hell are you trying to make feel better? Yugi or yourselves?" Yami asked.

The room went silent.

Seto, Joey, Serenity, and Mokuba looked at each before backing away.

Since Yami's fiery gaze was in Tristan and Tea, the four decided that they were going to stay as far away from the possible battleground as was possible.

"Yugi, of course." Tea said.

"Really? You're talking about Yugi being a coward when you're too afraid to admit something, Tristan." Yami said.

"Like what?" Tristan asked.

"What **you **did wrong? You're going on and on about how you want to make things up to Yugi and that he's a coward for running, but you have never actually admitted what you did wrong. You abandoned someone who was supposed to be your friend. You ignored and made him feel like he meant nothing. You don't want to admit the fact that you failed Yugi as a friend." Yami said.

Tristan was stunned speechless at the verbal lashing from Yami.

"But-" Tea started.

"No, Tea. You are guilty of the same thing. Yugi did not deserve the cold shoulder that we all gave him. In fact, that alone was probably enough to tear his hearts to shreds. Yugi did nothing to deserve our actions. We did everything to deserve his actions toward us lately." Yami said.

"How can you say that?" Tristan asked.

"You think I like this? You think I like seeing my Hikari look at me in fear before he turns and runs? I don't. Hell, I probably hate it more than all of you put together! I want to make things right with Yugi, too, but something I have come to terms with is that I can't make things right. What is done is done. It can't be undone. We can't reverse the fact that we abandoned him. We can't change the fact that we were oblivious to the fact that he was- raped." Yami seemed to stumble over the word rape, hating to have to use it to talk about Yugi. "We can't change anything. Making things right in the aspect you're thinking won't happen. You want things to go back to the way they were before things went wrong, and that is just not possible. Yugi won't ever forget, and I won't, either." Yami said.

The speech left Tristan unable to form words, and Tea was having the same problem.

"You know, I had never thought of that." Mokuba said softly.

"I'm not sure any of us had." Seto added.

"Believe me. I have thought about that every day since we saved Yugi. Nothing can change the past, so stop thinking that things will go back to the way they were because it won't ever happen." Yami said.

It was hard to find words after that.

"The only people you two want to feel better are yourselves. You want to ease your own guilt by forcing Yugi to listen. That won't work. Easing your guilt will only make you feel better, but it won't help Yugi." Yami said sternly.

"Yami, I didn't think-" Tristan said.

"You didn't think at all. This isn't about us. We'll just have to live with the guilt because even if Yugi starts talking to us, even if Yugi listens, even if Yugi forgives me, even if Yugi becomes my friend again, I will always feel guilty for what happened to Yugi. I will always feel guilty for what I did to him." Yami said.

"He's right. I won't ever forget, and there is no way that I am going to be able to ever completely forgive myself for all this." Joey said.

"Look. None of us understand the true pain Yugi is in. Yugi doesn't just have to deal with the fact that we turned our back on him. He also has to deal with the fact that he was raped. Yugi is dealing with a lot of emotions right now. Trying to force Yugi to talk to us is not the way to do it. It will only push Yugi away, and it will make it less likely that we could gain any friendship back with him." Yami said.

The group was silent.

"We have to wait for Yugi to come to us. When Yugi is ready to talk to us, he will. We need to wait for Yugi to come to us. When he is ready, he'll let us know, and that is when we say something." Yami said.

It was silent in the mansion.

After all, what could be said after such speeches and after such clarity was given to the situation that had both previously really been known.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going home." Yami said. He turned and left the mansion without another word.

"Well, that was enlightening." Joey said.

"Yami is right. This is about Yugi. We have to wait until Yugi is ready to talk to us." Seto said solemnly.

The group nodded in agreement.

Seto's cold blue eyes then fell on Tristan and Tea. "And Yami is right. You two just want to make yourselves feel better right now. I think you both need to think about things, especially the things that Yami said just now." Seto said.

"You're right." Tristan agreed, ashamed of what he had been thinking.

"We do need to do a lot of thinking." Tea agreed.

Tea and Tristan then left the mansion.

"Was that necessary?" Joey asked.

"In order to get them to see that this is about Yugi and not them, yes. Our guilt doesn't mean a damn thing right now. They need to realize that." Seto said.

* * *

Yami walked into the house and was surprised when he found Heba in the living room. "What are you doing here?" Yami asked.

"Having a panic attack." Heba said as he looked through a book.

"Why?" Yam asked.

"Well, since I'm going to be living in Domino permanently now, I'll be starting at Domino High on Monday, and I think that I am screwed in this math class." Heba said.

"Why?" Yami asked.

"I don't recognize any of this." Heba said before he tossed the book onto the nightstand.

Yami crossed his arms as leaned against the frame of the door. "Didn't you say that you were terrible at math?" Yami asked.

"Yeah." Heba said.

"That might be why." Yami said.

"I am so going to fail." Heba said.

"No, you won't." Yami said.

Heba turned to him. "You've obviously never seen me try to do math." Heba said. He noticed a troubled look on Yami's face. "You okay?" Heba asked.

Yami sighed. "Not really." Yami said as he walked into the living room and flopped down in the recliner.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Heba asked.

Despite the fact that Heba was still angry at Yami, he knew that Yami was trying to do something, and he was glad that Yami hadn't tried to press the issue with talking to Yugi.

"I was over at the mansion with the others, and Tristan and Tea pissed me off. They were angry that Yugi wouldn't talk to us, and Tristan called Yugi selfish and a coward." Yami said.

"What?" Heba exclaimed.

"I don't feel that way. Believe me." Yami said.

"I know that much." Heba said.

"Anyway, the only thing they wanted was to ease their own guilt. It had nothing to do with Yugi. They hadn't even considered him. They didn't realize that by trying to force Yugi to talk to us, it would only push Yugi away from us. We need to wait for Yugi to be ready to come to us. Then we can address the issues we want to." Yami said.

"I hope you told them off." Heba said.

"I did. Trust me." Yami said. He chuckled and said, "You'd think that they wouldn't try to talk badly about Yugi now that I have my Shadow magic back."

"Why's that?" Heba asked.

"Because they know that I am extremely protective of Yugi. It's a miracle that I refrained from sending both to the Shadow Realm for the way they were talking about Yugi." Yami said.

"Made you mad?" Heba asked.

"Very." Yami said. He sighed. "I don't want to make things harder for Yugi than they already are. He doesn't need the added stress of us wanting to talk to him." Yami said.

"No. He doesn't." Heba agreed.

Yami looked over at Heba. "Have you seen Yugi today?" Yami asked.

"No, but I've talked to Atemu." Heba said. He sighed. "I don't think that Yugi is doing very well. He's still having horrible nightmares about **that **night." Heba said.

"I won't be easy for him to get over it." Yami said, looking down.

"I know." Heba said as he leaned back. "I just wish that there was more I could do for him." Heba said.

"Being there for him is probably more than enough, Heba. He needs you, and it's good that he does have you to count on." Yami said.

Heba smiled. "Thanks, Yami." Heba said.

"No problem." Yami said.

"Yami, despite everything, I think you're the one that's doing the most to help Yugi." Heba said.

Yami looked surprised. "How?" Yami asked.

"Yami, you're the only that understands that Yugi needs time, and despite the fact that you want to do nothing more than to rush over to Ryou's house and talk to Yugi, you're not. You're giving Yugi the space that he needs to try and get to the point that he will be willing to talk. That's how you're helping Yugi right now." Heba said.

"Thanks, Heba." Yami said.

"Sure thing." Heba said. He then picked the math book back up and looked at it. "I am so screwed." Heba said.

"Well, how about I help you?" Yami asked.

Heba looked over at him skeptically. "Can you?" Heba asked.

Yami smiled. "I'm in advanced trigonometry, Heba. I'm pretty good at math since I give Seto a run for his money in that class." Yami said.

"You are?" Heba asked.

Yami nodded.

Heba grabbed Yami by the shirt and in a desperate voice, "Help me!"

"Okay, Heba. When class starts, I'll help you." Yami said.

"Thank you." Heba said.

Atemu walked in and raised an eyebrow. "Should I be contemplating if I'm going to kill my brother or my boyfriend?" Atemu asked.

"No, you don't need to think of the different ways to murder one or both of us." Yami said as Heba let go of him. "Heba was freaking out over his math class, so I promised to help him with it." Yami said.

Atemu glanced at Heba.

"I suck at math." Heba answered.

"Well, I feel better now." Atemu said.

"How's Yugi?" Yami asked, needing to hear it from his brother.

"As well as can be expected given the circumstances." Atemu said.

Yami nodded.

"Does he seem any better?" Heba asked.

"I don't know. This is all going to take a lot of time." Atemu said.

"Yeah. We know it will. There's a lot that Yugi is going to have to deal with." Yami said.

"Yeah. Bakura promised to call if they needed any help." Atemu said.

Heba nodded.

* * *

Yugi was lying in his bed again.

In his hands, Yugi held a picture of himself and Yami.

Yugi reached up and traced over Yami's face with a finger. "Oh, Yami. I wish that I had been able to tell you then." Yugi said. He felt tears fill his eyes. "I was so in love with you." Yugi said. He stopped. "I still am. I was going to tell you because I was so sure that you loved me, but you started dating Tea, so I thought I was wrong." Yugi said. He took a deep breath to stop the sob that wanted to escape. "I was so hurt by that, but I thought that you wanted to be with Tea, and I was just going to let you two be together. I thought about telling you when you two broke up, but you started to ignore me. I knew then that I never had a chance." Yugi said.

Yugi took a deep breath before he put the picture down. He looked up at ceiling. "Any chance I might have had with Yami, as slim as it was, was destroyed when I was raped." Yugi said to himself as tears fell as he remembered that horrible night. "Yami would never want someone that was used like me." Yugi said.

Yugi squeezed his eyes shut before he rolled over and buried his face in his pillow.

Yugi knew in his heart that there was no way that Yami would want him now. He didn't think that Yami would want to be his friend, much less anything else.

That was the real reason Yugi didn't want to be around Yami. If he avoided Yami, he wouldn't have to face that pain.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"This is not going well." Osiris said.

"Yugi is going to need time to be willing to face them." Isis said.

"And Pharaoh Yami is doing what he believes is right by not approaching Yugi. He wants to come to him." Hathor said.

"You cannot blame him." Anubis said.

"No. By all accounts, Pharaoh Yami is doing the right thing." Ra said.

"Can we help?" Ma'at said.

"No. We have to wait and see what happens. They must deal with this on their own." Ra answered.

* * *

Hope you liked it. Don't ask me why I'm being so hard on Tea and Tristan. I'm just making them somewhat bad guys in this for now.

Next: Yami tries to communicate with Yugi without seeing him, and Yugi makes a big decision.

R&R.


	20. Communication

Here's the next chapter.

I haven't been doing a lot of writing lately, but I'll try to get back to writing soon.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 20- Communication

It was now Monday, and time for everyone to go back to school.

Yugi was uneasy about it because he knew that school was a place that Yami and the others would be able to get close and talk to him, and that was the last thing that he wanted at the time.

Atemu, Heba, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik had all promised Yugi that they were not going to let them get close enough to Yugi to do or say anything that might hurt Yugi.

Yami and the others still wanted to talk to Yugi, but they were giving Yugi the space that he desperately needed.

It was going to be a rough day for all of them.

* * *

Yugi had gotten dressed and headed downstairs to make breakfast for himself, Ryou, Bakura, Marik, and Malik.

By the time the four got downstairs, Yugi had the bowls of oatmeal ready.

"Hmm. Nice and hot." Bakura said before he grabbed the sugar and started to add it to his oatmeal.

"What does everyone want to drink?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, we can get that. You just get what you want and sit down. You need to eat, too." Ryou reminded him.

"I know, Ryou, but you're letting me stay here, so the least I can do is help you out." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you don't have to repay us for anything. Trust me on that." Ryou said.

"Yeah. Just eat." Malik added.

Yugi nodded.

The five got what they wanted to drink and sat down to eat.

"Are you going to be okay today, Yugi?" Marik asked

Yugi seemed to hesitate before he answered. "I don't know." Yugi admitted. He looked down and sighed. "I'm worried about Yami and the others. I don't want to face them right now, and I'm afraid that they're going to try and force the issue." Yugi said.

"Well, I think that the only ones who want to force the issue right now are Tea and Tristan. They can be easily dealt with." Bakura said.

"Bakura, I-" Yugi started.

"I never said we would fight them. Warning them away will do it." Bakura said.

"Yeah. We won't hurt them." Marik agreed.

Yugi didn't look convinced.

"They won't get close, Yugi. Trust me. We won't let that happen, and Atemu and Heba won't, either. You know that. You don't need to worry about it." Ryou said.

Yugi nodded although he was still uncertain about that fact.

"You'll see, Yugi." Malik assured him.

"Okay." Yugi said.

* * *

Yugi walked into his first class for the day that he had with Ryou.

Unfortunately for Yugi, Tristan and Joey were in that class as well.

Yugi and Ryou went to their seats at the back and sat down.

"Don't worry, Yugi. They're not going to come over." Ryou assured him.

Yugi nodded, although he was still wary of the two of them. He took out his books and started to look at them to distract him.

* * *

Tristan and Joey had seen Yugi and Ryou walk in.

Joey looked at Tristan and said, "Tristan, don't even think of trying to go over there."

Tristan looked at Joey. "Why do you automatically assume that I'm going to try?" Tristan asked.

Joey glared at him. "Tristan, you and Tea were talking about forcing Yugi to listen. Believe me. He doesn't need that." Joey said.

"I know." Tristan admitted. He sighed. "Tea and I only wanted to ease our own guilt, but we get it now." Tristan said.

"Good because I think that Yami would kill you two if you did anything that would jeopardize his chance of talking to Yugi at any time. Yami would literally flip out." Joey said.

"Yeah. I know." Tristan said. He knew how much Yugi meant to Yami, and he knew that Yami wanted to help Yugi more than anything. "Yami would probably send us to the Shadow Realm if we did anything that endangered his chance of talking to Yugi." Tristan said.

"I don't doubt it." Joey agreed.

* * *

Yugi and Ryou were surprised when Heba walked in.

"Heba, what are you doing here?" Yugi asked as his brother sat beside him.

"Apparently we have this class together." Heba said.

Yugi and Heba then compared their schedules. "Wow. We have every class except Biology together." Heba said.

"Yeah. I have that with Malik and Bakura." Yugi said.

"Well, at least you'll have a class with someone that you know." Ryou said.

"Yeah." Heba said.

Yugi saw what class Heba had when he had Biology. "You'll be fine. Atemu has that same class." Yugi said.

"That's good." Heba said. He seemed relieved.

* * *

When break came, Yugi, Heba, and Ryou met up with Atemu, Marik, Malik, and Bakura.

"So, how was class?" Bakura asked. He was really asking if Joey and Tristan tried anything since he knew that they had that class with Yugi.

"It was fine." Yugi said.

"I dread my next one." Heba said.

"Why?" Marik asked.

"It's math." Yugi answered.

Bakura, Marik, Ryou, and Malik looked clueless.

"I'm horrible at math." Heba explained.

"We can't help with that." Bakura said.

"I just hope that I can pass." Heba said. He decided not to say that Yami had agreed to help him. He didn't know what kind of effect that would have on his brother.

* * *

Yami and the others were sitting together, and they saw that Yugi and the others were sitting together.

"I don't think that they are going to leave Yugi alone under any circumstances." Joey stated.

"Can you really blame them?" Seto asked.

"Not really." Joey admitted.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Tea asked.

"I'm going straight home." Yami said.

"Why?" Serenity asked.

"Heba's not good at math, so I told him I'd tutor him at the shop every day after school." Yami explained.

"Is he that bad?" Mokuba asked.

"I guess so. I'll find out later." Yami said.

"Well, he picked a good tutor." Seto remarked.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "Are you actually complimenting me?" Yami asked.

Seto glared. "I admit that you are good at math, but you're not as good as me." Seto said.

"Well, I can tell Heba that you decided to tutor him instead." Yami said.

Seto growled. "I don't have time to tutor anyone. I have a company to run." Seto said.

"Yeah. He barely has time to help Joey." Mokuba said.

"I'm sure that they study." Tristan muttered.

Joey glared daggers at Tristan.

"What? We all know it's true." Tristan said.

"And I'm sure that you and Tea just study." Joey said.

Tea turned red at that.

Yami had stopped listening. He was watching Yugi discreetly. He had seen how Yugi would look over at them anxiously every now and then. 'Yugi's afraid that we're going to attempt to come and over and talk.' Yami thought. He mentally sighed. 'We did a great deal of damage.' Yami thought.

* * *

Yami walked into his Biology class, the same class Yugi had.

Yugi was already in the class with Malik and Bakura sitting on either side of them.

'I can't blame them.' Yami thought. He went and sat down in his seat across the room, wanting to give Yugi the space he wanted.

It wasn't long before the class started.

* * *

Yugi had gotten nervous when Yami walked into the room. 'I wonder what he'll do.' Yugi thought. He was trying not to look at Yami.

Yugi was surprised when Yami simply walked to sit across the room.

"He's giving you the space you want, Yugi." Bakura said.

Yugi looked at Bakura.

"Yami wants nothing more than to talk to you. We all know that, but Yami knows that you don't want to talk right now, so he's giving you the space he knows you want. He's trying to do what you want." Bakura said.

Yugi nodded. "I know." Yugi said softly.

"You want to talk to Yami just as badly as he wants to talk to you." Malik said.

"I know, Malik, but I can't right now." Yugi said. He hands had balled into tight fists.

"You won't be forced to, Yugi. He'll just have to wait until you're ready to talk to him." Bakura said.

Yugi nodded. "I know." Yugi said. He felt bad about not talking to Yami, but he just wasn't comfortable with it.

It wasn't long before the teacher started the class, much to Yugi's relief.

* * *

By the time the day ended, Yugi's nerves were frayed. He had been so scared of talking to them that he had reached his wits end.

"Come on, Yugi. Let's get you home." Malik said.

Yugi knew that Atemu, Heba, Marik, Malik, Bakura, and Ryou could easily how upset he was about this, so he simply nodded.

"I'll come over later." Heba said.

"Why not now?" Marik asked.

Heba seemed uncomfortable.

Atemu rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's actions. "Heba was freaking out about the math class last week, and Yami promised to tutor Heba everyday after school in it." Atemu said.

Heba shot Atemu a glare.

"Well, you'll have a good tutor. Yami's as good in math as Seto is." Yugi said.

Heba was relieved. "I thought you'd be upset that Yami's tutoring me." Heba said.

Yugi smiled. "Heba, I may not be comfortable being around Yami, but I don't mind that. You're living in the same house with him." Yugi said.

Heba nodded.

"So, we'll see you later." Bakura said.

"Well, I'm going to go on home and do my homework while Yami tutors Heba." Atemu said.

The group then headed their separate ways.

* * *

Yami arrived at the house just a few minutes after Atemu and Heba had. He found them in the living room. "Heba, are you ready?" Yami asked.

"Yeah." Heba said, standing up.

Atemu stood up as well. "I'll let you two have the kitchen to study in. I'll go upstairs and do my homework." Atemu said.

Yami and Heba went to sit down at the kitchen table.

After half an hour, Yami understood why Heba had freaked out over math. "Heba, you suck at math more than Joey, and that's saying something." Yami said.

Heba smiled. "I told you I hated math, and that I was horrible at it." Heba said.

"Yeah. I see that now." Yami said.

After another forty-five minutes, Heba had finally started to understand.

"Finally." Yami muttered.

Heba glared at him.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be so terrible at it." Yami said.

"You can see why I need help." Heba said.

Yami nodded. "At least I know how long these tutoring sessions will be now." Yami said.

"Yeah. I need to work on my other subjects now." Heba said.

Atemu walked in. "Are you still on the math?" Atemu asked.

"No. We just finished, though." Yami said.

"It took you an hour and fifteen minutes for one assignment?" Atemu asked.

"I'm terrible at it." Heba said.

Once Heba had finished the rest of his homework, he and Atemu left.

Yami knew that they were going to see Yugi. He let out a sigh. 'I'd love to go and see Yugi, but I know that he needs his space right now. I need to let Yugi come to me when he's ready.' Yami thought. He headed upstairs to do the rest of his homework.

As Yami did his history homework, he came across a reading about two people who wrote letter to each other.

An idea struck Yami.

'Maybe it can work.' Yami thought.

Forgetting his homework for the time being, Yami took out a sheet of paper and started writing something else entirely.

* * *

Atemu and Heba found Yugi, Ryou, and Malik in the living room.

"Where are Bakura and Marik?" Heba asked.

"We're probably better off not knowing." Ryou answered.

"We won't ask when they get back." Atemu said.

"How was the tutoring session?" Malik asked.

"Fine." Heba said.

"And he really does suck at math. It took an hour and fifteen minutes to do it when it would have taken anyone else maybe half an hour." Atemu said.

Heba glared at Atemu again.

"What?" Atemu asked.

Heba growled before he walked over and sat down by his brother.

"It's a good thing that you two aren't having sex right now because if you were, you would be on the couch tonight." Ryou said.

Heba then turned his attention to Yugi. "How are you?" Heba asked.

"Okay, I guess." Yugi said.

It was clear he wasn't.

It was obviously that Yugi wasn't recovering from anything that had happened, and they were all at their wits end.

"Yugi, I know that you don't want to hear it, but-" Heba started.

"I know." Yugi said quietly.

Heba blinked. "Know what?" Heba asked.

Yugi sighed. "I'm not dealing well with being-" Yugi trialed off. He didn't want to it aloud.

"We know." Ryou said.

Yugi sighed. "I need help, Heba. I know that." Yugi said. He took a deep breath before looking up at them. "I've been to a center that helps with people in situations like me, and I got the name of a physiatrist who helps people in my type of situation. I'm going to go to therapy. I can't deal on my own, so maybe I can get help this way." Yugi said.

"Are you sure?" Ryou asked.

"Ryou, I don't want to live like this. I need help." Yugi said.

Atemu walked over and sat on the other side of Yugi. "You know that we'll be behind you, Yugi." Atemu said.

Yugi nodded. "I know. I already called and set up an appointment for tomorrow after school. Her name is Dr. Cynthia Grey." Yugi said.

"Do you need someone to go with you?" Heba asked.

"I-I don't think so. I need to do this on my own." Yugi said.

"Yugi, one of us can go with you to the doctor's office and be there when you get out. We won't go in with you." Atemu said.

Yugi nodded. "I think that that would be good." Yugi said.

"Atemu, why don't you go? You've been there for Yugi more than anyone else.' Ryou said.

Atemu started to protest.

"He's right." Heba said.

"Could you both come, Heba?" Yugi asked, wanting his brother there.

"Sure." Heba agreed.

* * *

The next morning, Yami caught his brother before Heba got up. "Atemu, can you do me a favor?" Yami asked.

Atemu turned to Yami. "What?" Atemu asked.

Yami handed Atemu an envelope. "Can you give this to Yugi?" Yami asked.

Atemu took it and noticed that Yugi's name was written on it. He looked up.

"I know that Yugi wants me to stay away, but I want him to know that I'm here for him. Please give this to him." Yami said.

Atemu thought a moment before he nodded. "Okay, Yami. I'll give it to Yugi." Atemu said.

Yami smiled. "Thanks, Atemu." Yami said.

"Sure thing." Atemu said.

* * *

That afternoon, Atemu and Heba had gone with Yugi to the doctor's office.

Heba had told Yami he needed to do something with Yugi, so he wouldn't make the tutoring session.

Yami understood.

Yugi had filled out all the paperwork shakily.

"It'll be okay, Yugi." Heba murmured.

Yugi nodded.

"If you need us to go in, we will." Atemu added.

Yugi gave him a strained smile. "I appreciate that, Atemu, but not right now. I'll get you if I need you." Yugi said.

"Okay." Atemu said.

It wasn't long before Yugi was called back.

Yugi went back uneasily.

"I hope he'll be okay." Heba said.

"He will." Atemu said.

* * *

Dr. Cynthia Grey was an older woman with short, red hair and dark green eyes. She was tall and slim. She gave Yugi a warm smile. "You must be Yugi Mutou." Dr. Grey said.

"Yes, ma'am." Yugi said as he sat in the chair across from her.

"You don't need to be so formal with me. You can just call me Cynthia." Dr. Grey said.

"Okay." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey could tell that Yugi was uneasy. "I understand that you're uneasy. Many people are. Just start when you're ready." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi took a deep breath. "The truth is that I need help dealing with something. My friends have tried to help me, but nothing helps." Yugi said.

"All right. Can you tell me what happened?" Dr. Grey asked.

"About five months ago, I was-I was-" Yugi took another deep breath. "I was walking in the park, and I was attacked and-raped by three men." Yugi said.

Yugi rarely said the word aloud, and it caused him to start crying.

Dr. Grey understood immediately. "I see." Dr. Grey said. She moved and placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "I understand." Dr. Grey said.

"T-there's more than that." Yugi whispered.

"Tell me." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi then started telling her about it from when his friends started ignoring him to now, leaving out the parts about the Shadow magic and all.

* * *

Heba and Atemu were waiting anxiously for Yugi.

Yugi had been talking with Dr. Grey for an hour.

Finally, Yugi came out. His eyes were red and puffy from crying.

Atemu and Heba went over.

"Yugi, this is going to be a process." Dr. Grey said.

"I understand.' Yugi said.

Heba had gotten beside him and wrapped an arm around Yugi.

Dr. Grey smiled. "You must be Heba." Dr. Grey said.

"Yes." Heba said.

Dr. Grey then looked back at Yugi. "Yugi, I want you to come twice a week at least. If you feel you need more, we will." Dr. Grey said.

"Thank you." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey nodded. "Just take it easy and take my advice." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi nodded, and Heba led him out.

"Dr. Grey, may I ask you something?" Atemu asked.

Dr. Grey turned to him. "I can't tell you what he told me. Patient-doctor privacy." Dr. Grey said.

Atemu smiled. "I understand. That's not what I was asking." Atemu said. He pulled out a letter. "My brother's friendship with Yugi has been strained with all this." Atemu said.

"Yes. Yugi told me of that." Dr. Grey said.

"Well, Yami wants to give Yugi space, but he wants to talk with Yugi, too. He gave me this letter to give to Yugi. I didn't know what to do. Should I give it to Yugi?" Atemu asked.

Dr. Grey looked thoughtful. "I think you should give it to Yugi and let him decide what to do." Dr. Grey said.

"All right. Thank you." Atemu said. He then left.

Dr. Grey went back in her office and sighed. 'That poor boy has gone through a lot, and he has good friends as well as friends who lost sight. He needs more help than me. I just hope that he gets it.' Dr. Grey thought.

* * *

Yugi was in his room. He had calmed down from talking to Dr. Grey.

Dr. Grey had suggested that Yugi start keeping a journal. She told Yugi that when he got upset thinking about it or had a nightmare to write down his feelings.

'I hope it helps.' Yugi thought. He had found an empty notebook and started one for that day.

There was a knock on the door.

Yugi shut the journal and sat up. "Come on." Yugi said.

Atemu opened the door and walked in. "Hi, Yugi. I hope I'm not disturbing you." Atemu said.

"No, you're not. What is it, Atemu?" Yugi asked.

Atemu walked over and sat down beside Yugi. "Yugi, I wasn't sure about giving this to you, Yugi, but I ask Dr. Grey, and she said to let you decide." Atemu said.

"Decide what?" Yugi asked, a little uneasy.

Atemu took out the envelope and handed it to Yugi. "This." Atemu said.

Yugi saw his name on the envelope and recognized Yami's handwriting. "This is from Yami?" Yugi asked in a low voice.

Atemu nodded. "He wanted to contact you, and he felt that writing a letter would be the easiest way. You don't have to read it. It's up to you. I wanted to give it to you, though." Atemu said.

Yugi looked up. "Who else knows about this?" Yugi asked.

"Me, you, and Yami. The others probably would have taken it. It's your choice, Yugi." Atemu said He stood up.

"What should I do?" Yugi asked.

"What you want. It's your decision, Yugi. I'll understand if you just want to tear it up." Atemu said.

Yugi nodded. "Thank you for giving me the choice.' Yugi said.

"Of course, Yugi.' Atemu said. He then left the room.

Yugi looked at the envelope, debating for a long time. He didn't know what to do.

On one hand, Yugi was thrilled that Yami had contacted him. He wanted to know what was going on with Yami, and he wanted to hear from him.

On the other hand, Yugi didn't know if he wanted to know. He didn't know if this letter would hurt him at all, and he wasn't sure what to do.

After debating for thirty minutes, Yugi opened the letter and took out the paper.

A necklace fell out. It had a circular charm on it that had the rainbow colors on it. On the back was the inscription: _For my best friend. Thanks for everything, Yami. _

Yugi had given it to Yami as a symbol of their friendship. He had given it to Yami after he had his own body.

Yugi felt fearful that Yami was returning it because he didn't want to be friends anymore. He wasn't sure if he wanted to read the letter.

Yugi debated on it for another thirty minutes before he finally came to a decision.

Yugi opened the folded paper and started to read it.

_Yugi,_

_I know that I'm the last person that you want to hear from right now, and I do not blame you. Words cannot describe how sorry I am for what I did to you, Yugi. There is no excuse for my actions, so I will not try and pretend that there is a reason for what I did._

_Yugi, I need you to know that I am sorry for everything I put you through. I had no right to do anything that I did, and I am the reason that you were attacked that raped that night. Had I been listening, I could have helped you, but I did not. There is so much that I want to say, but I know that something like that is impossible. _

_I do not blame you for being scared of me right now. I would be, too. Something I need you to know and understand is that I do not hate you, Yugi. There is nothing that you could have done that would have made me hate you. You could never do anything that would make me hate you. I care about you far too much to feel something like that. If I feel any ill feeling toward anyone, it is myself. I am angry with myself for what I allowed to happen. What I did when we were dealing with Dartz and the Orichalcos was nothing compared to this. I wish that there was something I could say or do to make up for this, but I cannot. I know that. Something I want you to desperately understand is that I care about you still, even if my actions in the past do not confirm that. Nothing could ever make me not care about you. _

_Yugi, I want you to know that I am here for you. If you want to talk to me, I am here. You can call and talk to me if you want. I will understand if you do not want to see or talk to me. It is what I deserve. I do not want to pressure you into any of this, Yugi. That's not the point of this letter. I just want you to know that I still care about you, and that I am here for you if you need anything from me. I will do anything I can for you, Yugi. I just needed you to know that._

_I am sure that you're wondering why I sent the necklace back to you. It is not that I do not want to remain friends, Yugi. I want that more than anything. However, to me, that necklace is more than a symbol of our friendship. It is a symbol of the trust you have in me. I do not feel that I deserve to have it now. I want you to have it now. I know I lost all the trust you ever had in me. Just do not think that I do not want to be friends. I do want that._

_Again, if you need me, you know how to reach me, Yugi._

_No matter what, you are always going to have me. I will protect you now, Yugi._

_Love, Yami_

Yugi read through the letter again just to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

Once Yugi was sure that he hadn't imagined the words on the paper, tears started to fill Yugi's eyes and fall down his cheeks.

Yugi had been so sure that Yami hated him. He was sure that their friendship had been completely destroyed. He was sure that Yami wanted nothing to do with him.

But Yami didn't say that.

Yami said that he wanted to be Yugi friend, that he wanted to help Yugi, be there for him.

But the question was could Yugi take that risk again?

Yugi wasn't sure that he could trust Yami again. He didn't know if he could take the pain of betrayal from Yami again.

Yugi looked down at the necklace. It was a symbol of friendship, but it was Yami who felt that that friendship had been lost.

'What do I do? Do I give Yami another chance or do I try?' Yugi asked himself.

Yugi's heart had taken such a beating that he wasn't sure that he could handle this. He didn't know if he would be able to be friends with Yami.

But Yugi wanted that more than anything. He wanted to be around Yami again. He wanted to be friends again. He wanted, no, he needed his Yami, his dark back.

But was it worth the risk?

* * *

Hope you liked it. I figured that Yugi would need more help than the gang could give him. Plus, I needed Yami to contat Yugi somehow, and the letter helped Yami do it without forcing Yugi to listen.

Next: Yugi decides if he wants to see Yami or not.

R&R.


	21. Decision

Here's the next chapter.

This chapter is a bit shorter than the others have been.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 21- Decision

Yugi was quieter when he was with Dr. Grey.

Dr. Grey was worried. "Yugi, are you all right?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi looked up and gave her a strained smile. "I'm sorry, Cynthia. It's just-there's a lot on my mind." Yugi said. He was quiet for a moment before he added, "One thing actually."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi looked surprised. "I thought we were supposed to talk about-" Yugi started.

"Yugi, we are talking about you, and we still are. Tell me what is bothering you." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi took a deep breath before he started. "You know about Yami." Yugi said.

"Indeed." Dr. Grey said. She had heard a great deal about him, and it had not taken long for her to figure out that Yugi had been in love with Yami when that had started.

"Well, you know that Atemu is his brother." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey nodded.

"Well, Yami knows that I'm not ready to talk to him yet, and he has been keeping his distance, which surprised me." Yugi said.

"Why did that surprise you?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Well, Yami's not one to not do something he wants to do. Normally, he's just doing what he wanted and not listen to what anyone wanted other than himself." Yugi said.

"I see. But he has now?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi nodded.

"It sounds like he's giving you what he knows you want." Dr. Grey said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"So, what else is there?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Well, he still kept his distance, but he did contact me. He gave a note that he had written to me to Atemu, who gave it to me. Atemu told me that he had thought about not giving it to me, but he decided to give it to me and let me decide if I wanted to read it." Yugi said.

"Did you decide?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Yeah. I read it." Yugi said.

"Did the letter upset you?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Yeah, but not in the way you think. He didn't mean to upset me." Yugi said.

"What did the letter say?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Mostly, he was telling me that he was sorry about the way he had treated me, that there was no excuse for the way he acted, and that he didn't hate me." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey looked surprised. "Why would he specify that?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Because Yami knew I thought that he hated me, and he wanted me to know that he didn't. He wanted me to know that he was there for me if I needed him. To talk or whatever about all this." Yugi said.

"Have you talked to him?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi shook his head.

"Is it because you do not wish to?" Dr. Grey asked.

"I, well, no, not exactly." Yugi said.

"Then why?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Well, I'm still scared." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey frowned. "You don't think he would hurt you, do you?" Dr. Grey asked.

"No! Not that. Yami would never hurt me. Not physically." Yugi said suddenly.

'He's defensive of him.' Dr. Grey thought, filing this away for later study. "So, why are you scared?" Dr. Grey asked.

"I'm scared of trusting him again. I don't know if I can take that risk. When he betrayed me and started ignoring me, it hurt so much. I'm afraid to trust him again. I don't know if I can take that pain." Yugi said, tears in his eyes. Just the thought was tearing Yugi apart.

"I see." Dr. Grey said.

"And I don't want to cause more problems." Yugi said.

"More?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi nodded. "Atemu, Heba, Marik, Malik, Bakura, and Ryou wouldn't like me seeing him." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you cannot let their thoughts stop you if you truly wish to see Yami." Dr. Grey said.

"But they have been there for me throughout all of this." Yugi said.

"I know, but this is not about them. This is about you." Dr. Grey said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"No, Yugi. You don't. I can see it. You don't want to cause problems with them. I can understand that, but you cannot let that stop you. If you truly want to see Yami, then you should. If they are truly your friends, then they will understand. They might not like it, but they will not cause problems." Dr. Grey said.

"I'm not sure what to do." Yugi admitted.

"Yugi, answer me this. Do you want to talk to him?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi look troubled. "I-I honestly don't know." Yugi said.

"All right. I know this is hard, Yugi, but don't think about the situation. Don't think about the possible problems. Think about you. What do you want?" Dr Grey asked.

Yugi closed his eyes and started to think.

Dr. Grey was patient, knowing that this was something that would be hard for Yugi.

Finally, Yugi opened his eyes. "I want Yami back in my life. I want to talk to him, face-to-face." Yugi said.

"All right." Dr. Grey said.

"But I don't know if I can trust him." Yugi admitted.

"Yugi, you don't have to trust him. Let him regain your trust. He needs to earn it. The chance is what you have to decide if you want to give him." Dr. Grey said.

"I do." Yugi said. He sighed. "I've missed having Yami in my life. We were so close before. I know we won't ever reach that again, not with what's happened to me, but I want us to get as close to this as possible." Yugi said.

"Good." Dr. Grey said.

"But I don't know where to meet him." Yugi said.

"Somewhere _you _are comfortable, Yugi." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi nodded.

"Yugi, you don't have to do this is you don't want to." Dr. Grey reminded him.

"I know, but I know I need this." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey nodded. "All right. Now, is there anything else you would like to talk about?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi nodded and started to talk about other things.

* * *

"Are you insane?" Bakura shouted.

Yugi cringed at the sound.

"No way in hell are you meeting Yami alone!" Marik added fiercely.

Yugi backed up, scared. He knew that this would cause problems.

"You aren't seeing him!" Bakura added, the threat clear in his voice.

Yugi stepped back.

Atemu growled. He stepped between Bakura and Marik. "That's enough!" Atemu snapped.

"This wouldn't have happened if you had destroyed that damned note!" Marik snapped.

"It wasn't my place. Yugi has the right to make his own choices." Atemu retorted.

"Still-" Bakura started.

"Bakura! Stop!" Ryou ordered.

Bakura glowered at his Hikari. "Why?" Bakura demanded.

"Bakura, this is Yugi's choice, and if he wants to talk to Yami, he will." Ryou said.

"That's right. Yugi made the choice. If you don't like it, tough." Malik added.

"No. It's fine." Yugi said, losing all his confidence.

All eyes turned to Yugi.

"I won't see Yami if it's going to cause problems." Yugi said.

It was clear that Yugi hated this thought. It was clear that Yugi had wanted to see Yami.

But it was also clear that Yugi didn't have the self-confidence to stand up to Marik and Bakura.

Heba glared so fiercely at the two that they flinched. He stepped up to his brother and put his hands on Yugi's shoulders. "Yugi." Heba said.

Yugi turned to look at Heba.

"If you really want to see Yami, Yugi, then go." Heba said.

"But-" Yugi started.

"No, Yugi. This is not about me. This is not about Marik. This is not about Bakura. This is about you. This has to be what you want." Heba said.

"It is." Yugi admitted.

"Then go. If you need to talk to Yami, then go." Heba said.

"I-" Yugi started.

"Yugi." Bakura said.

Yugi turned, a little afraid.

Bakura and Marik both looked remorseful.

"Yugi, we're sorry. We shouldn't have reacted like that." Bakura said.

"We're just still upset at how Yami treated you. We don't want you to get hurt again. We don't want him to hurt you again." Marik added.

"I know. I've thought about that." Yugi said.

"But you want this?" Atemu asked.

Yugi nodded. "I've agonized over this for days. I even spent most of today's session with Cynthia talking about it. She made me think about if I really wanted to see Yami and give him a chance, and I know I do." Yugi said. He took a deep breath. "Things can't go back to the way they were. I know that, but I miss Yami. None of you understand how hard it has been to be separated from Yami in such a way." Yugi said.

They all knew that they didn't know that pain.

"I'm not going to welcome him back with open arms. I'm not going to automatically trust him. He has to earn both my trust and my forgiveness. I just, I want to give him a chance." Yugi said.

Atemu walked over and placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "You don't have to explain this to us, Yugi. This is your choice, and whatever you decide is okay. Just one thing." Atemu said.

Yugi looked up.

"Just don't meet with Yami somewhere no one can see you. I trust Yami, but I think we would all feel better that way." Atemu said.

Yugi smiled. "I know, Atemu. I had planned on asking Yami to meet me in Domino Central Park." Yugi said.

"That would work." Heba said.

"All right, Yugi." Atemu said.

"Yugi?" Ryou said.

Yugi looked over at Ryou. "Yes?" Yugi asked.

"What about all the others?" Ryou asked.

Yugi hesitated.

"You don't have to, you know." Bakura said.

"Yeah. I know. I'm not ready to have them all back yet. I still need time. I think that one person at a time is best." Yugi said.

"And we'll keep the others off your back until you're ready." Malik said.

"Thanks, guys." Yugi said.

"Yugi, when do you want to see Yami?" Atemu asked.

"Well, I was thinking of asking Yami to meet me at the park on Saturday." Yugi answered.

"Okay." Atemu said.

"Do you need any of us to be there?" Heba asked.

"No. I don't think so. I know Yami won't hurt me physically, and he won't hurt me emotionally. At least not on purpose." Yugi said.

They all nodded.

"What are you going to do about living arrangements?" Ryou asked.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll stay around here a while longer. I'm not ready to go home quite yet. I'll wait and see how things go with Yami." Yugi said.

"Okay." Ryou said.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you want." Bakura added.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks." Yugi said.

They were quiet for a minute.

"You know, I'm getting hungry." Bakura said.

The group laughed.

"I'll start dinner." Yugi said before heading into the kitchen.

* * *

It was later that night.

Yugi was in his room. He had his cell phone in his hand.

Yugi had started to dial Yami's cell number several times, but had chickened out at the last minute.

'Why can't I do this? Why can't I call him?' Yugi asked himself.

Yugi knew why. He was still scared. As much as he wanted to talk to Yami, he was still afraid. He wasn't sure if he truly could handle all this.

Yugi took a deep breath. 'I have to do this. If I want to talk to him, I have to call him now.' Yugi thought.

Taking another deep breath, Yugi dialed the number.

"_Hello?_" the baritone voice said.

* * *

Yami was lying on his bed doing his homework.

Or trying to.

It had been three days since Yami had asked Atemu to give the letter to Yugi, and he hadn't heard from anyone.

Even if Yugi didn't want to respond, Yami had figured that Bakura or Marik would be over there to threaten his life or something.

Yami finally gave up on the homework and tossed his books on the desk.

Yami sighed. 'Yugi may not have even read the letter. He might not want to see me ever again.' Yami thought. He grimaced. 'It would be what I deserve.' Yami thought.

Yami wanted to see Yugi again. He wanted to talk to Yugi. He wanted to tell Yugi to his face how sorry he was for everything that happened.

But Yami wouldn't see Yugi unless Yugi wanted to.

Yami sighed.

It was killing Yami not being able to see Yugi, but he would stay away if that was what his Hikari needed.

Yami was so lost in his thoughts and misery that the ringing of his cell phone nearly gave him a heart attack.

Yami jumped and tumbled off the bed in an ungraceful manner. He then reached up and grabbed the cell phone from the nightstand. He opened it and said, "Hello?"

"_Yami?_" a soft voice said.

Yami froze.

Yami knew that voice. It was a voice that he would never forget. A voice that he would know no matter what.

"_Yami, are you there?_" Yugi asked.

Yami heard the panic and answered. "Yes, Yugi. I'm here." Yami said. He stood up and sat on the bed.

"_Oh. Um, I got the letter from Atemu._" Yugi said.

"I know. He told me he gave it to you." Yami said.

"_Yami, I-I do want to talk to you._" Yugi said.

"Go ahead." Yami said, relieved that his Hikari at least wanted to talk. It was something at least.

"_No. Not on the phone. I was hoping that you would be willing to meet me._" Yugi said.

Yami's heart skipped a beat.

Yugi wanted to see him? Talk to him? Face-to-face?

It was more than Yami had ever dreamed of.

"Of course, Yugi." Yami said.

"_Could you meet me at Domino Central Park on Saturday around ten?_" Yugi asked.

"Sure. Where in the park?" Yami asked.

"_How about by the lake?_" Yugi asked.

"All right, Yugi. I will." Yami said.

"_Thanks, Yami._" Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Yami said.

"_I'll see you then._" Yugi said.

"All right, Yugi. Bye." Yami said.

"_Bye." _Yugi said before he hung up.

Yami was flying.

Yugi did want to see him.

Yami knew that there was a chance that things wouldn't go well, but he was thankful that he had the chance. He hoped that he would be able to explain to Yugi how sorry he was. He hoped it went well.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yugi and Yami talk.

R&R.


	22. Talk

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 22- Talk

Yugi went downstairs on Saturday morning.

It was the day that he would go and talk to Yami.

Yugi was rather nervous about going.

"You okay, Yugi?" Bakura asked. He could tell that Yugi was beyond nervous about going and seeing Yami.

"Yeah. I'll be fine, Bakura." Yugi answered. He made himself a bowl of cereal before he sat down to eat.

"You know, you don't have to do this if you don't want to." Bakura said.

WHACK!

"OW!" Bakura shouted, rubbing the back of his head.

Ryou gave Bakura a glare. "You're not supposed to try and influence him." Ryou snapped.

"I'm not!" Bakura retorted. He glared at his Hikari before he continued. "I was only pointing out that there is nothing that says that Yugi has to talk to him." Bakura said.

"I know that, Bakura. I just need to do this, though." Yugi said.

"You can call any of us if you need us to." Ryou said.

"Or someone could go with you." Bakura added.

"No, Bakura. You don't need to do that. I'll be fine." Yugi said.

"Well, we're all here if you need us for any reason." Ryou said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Ryou. I know." Yugi said.

"Good." Ryou said.

Bakura then got up and left.

"Ryou-" Yugi started.

Ryou held up his hand. "You don't need to ask, Yugi. Malik and I are going to stay with Bakura and Marik all day so that they don't try to interfere in any way, although I think that the most they would do is spy on you." Ryou said.

"Thanks, all the same." Yugi said.

"Anytime." Ryou said.

It wasn't long before Yugi left.

"Yugi, wait!" Ryou called, running after him.

Yugi turned. "Yeah?" Yugi asked.

"Just call when you get to the park." Ryou said.

"Sure thing." Yugi said, understanding why they wanted to know when he got there. He then headed off to the park.

* * *

Yami wasn't doing much better as far as nervousness went. He didn't know what to expect when he talked to Yugi, and it had him worried.

"Yami, take it easy." Atemu said.

"Sorry, Atemu, but I'm just nervous about this. After all that has happened, I'm not sure how this will go." Yami said.

"Well, regardless of what he says, you'll deserve it." Heba said.

"Yeah. I know." Yami said.

Atemu sighed. "Yami, you were the one who wanted to meet with Yugi and talk to him." Atemu reminded him.

"Yeah. I know." Yami said.

"Yami, everything will be fine." Heba siad. He then added, "Unless something happens to Yugi. Then you're a dead man."

"I'm not going to let anything happen to Yugi." Yami said. He had already decided that he was going to do whatever it took to keep Yugi safe from now on.

"Then you really don't have anything to worry about." Heba said.

'Yeah. I do. Anything Yugi says could hurt a lot more than any physical pain could ever hope to hurt me.' Yami thought.

Yami headed for the park so that he wouldn't be late. The last thing he wanted was to be late for something like this.

* * *

Yugi arrived at the park first. He headed to the pond and found that it was empty.

'Good. I was hoping that Yami and I would have some privacy to talk about all this.' Yugi thought.

Yugi walked over to a bench and sat down. He just sat there watching the ducks in the pond, enjoying the silence and serenity of the area.

* * *

Yami walked into the park and headed right for the area that the pond was in.

As soon as Yami got close, he saw Yugi.

Yami stopped for a moment. He was really worried and scared about what Yugi might say.

Then Yami remembered everything that had happened to Yugi.

'I deserve anything Yugi says to me. If he tells me that he hates me and never wants to see me again, then that's exactly what I deserve.' Yami thought.

Gathering what little courage he had, Yami walked on over to the bench.

Yugi looked up when he heard someone walking. He wasn't surprised to find Yami standing there. "Hey, Yami." Yugi said rather uneasily.

"Hi, Yugi. Sorry I'm a little late." Yami said.

"No. It's fine." Yugi said.

Yami was hesitant at first, but then he walked over and sat down beside Yugi.

The two were quiet for a moment.

Neither knew exactly how to start this conversation.

"Yami, I'm sorry." Yugi said softly.

Yami looked over at Yugi, rather surprised. "Yugi, why on earth are you apologizing to me?" Yami asked, still shocked.

Yugi wouldn't look at him. "For attacking you. For trying to kill you. You didn't deserve that." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you don't have to apologize to me for that. In all honesty, I might not have found out the truth if it hadn't been for that." Yami said.

"I was still wrong." Yugi said.

Yami was hesitant, but he reached over and touched Yugi's shoulder gently.

Yugi tensed, a reaction that started after he had been raped.

"Yugi, you don't have to apologize to me for that, and you don't need to feel guilty about anything. What we all did was wrong." Yami said. He was quiet for a moment before he rectified his last statement. "I was wrong. There is no excuse for what we did." Yami said.

"Why, though?" Yugi asked.

Yami was hesitant once more. He knew that Yugi deserved some kind of answer, but he knew that the one he had wasn't much of an answer.

But Yugi deserved an honest answer.

"Yami?" Yugi asked.

Yami sighed. "Yugi, I wish I had a real answer. I don't. I have no excuse for what I did. There's no reason behind it other than the fact that I was an idiot. I can't excuse what I did. There isn't one." Yami said. He looked over at Yugi. The pain, guilt, and remorse he felt was clear in his vivid crimson eyes. "I don't have an excuse. I wish I could give you a real answer." Yami said.

"You did." Yugi said.

Yami looked surprised. "I did?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded. "I honestly half-expected that you would come up with some kind of excuse." Yugi said.

Yami winced at that. "Well, once I found out the truth, I knew there wasn't an excuse." Yami said. He looked over at Yugi. "I am so sorry about everything. I never meant for any of this to happen. I never wanted you to have to go through all this." Yami said.

"I know, Yami." Yugi said.

"I don't think you do." Yami said.

Yugi smiled weakly. "Yami, I know you. I know that you would never want anything bad to happen to me." Yugi said.

Yami knew otherwise. "Yugi, you're lying. I can see that." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "It's been hard on me, with everything that has happening." Yugi said.

"I can understand that." Yami said.

The two become quiet for a moment.

"Yami, can I ask you a question and you be completely honest with me?" Yugi asked.

"Of course." Yami said. He had decided that he would be completely honest with Yugi, no matter what.

"Did you ever hate me? At all?" Yugi asked.

"No, Yugi. I could never hate you." Yami replied.

Yugi seemed unsure.

"I know that you have a good reason for not being sure about whether or not you should trust me on that. I deserve that, but I don't hate you, Yugi. I could never hate you." Yami said.

"I have a hard time believing a lot of things." Yugi said.

"I understand." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "I wasn't sure if I should come and see you today. I wasn't sure I could." Yugi said.

Yami was surprised. "Then why did you agree?" Yami asked.

"Well, I talked to my psychiatrist." Yugi said.

"Psychiatrist?" Yami asked.

Yugi saw the surprise in Yami's eyes. "Did Atemu and Heba not tell you that I was seeing one?" Yugi asked.

"No." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "Ever since that night, I have struggled with it. I denied it for a long time. I-I never attempted to deal with what happened, and I knew how badly it was affecting me, especially with the nightmares I was having." Yugi said.

"I get it." Yami said.

"Anyway, I was confused about what to do, and I ended up talking to Dr. Grey about it." Yugi said.

"And you decided to come?" Yami asked.

"I decided that I wanted to hear you out." Yugi said. He looked over at Yami and said, "I really have missed having you as a part of my life. I'll admit that I can't trust you right now, but I just wanted you back."

"I've missed that, too, Yugi. I'm surprised you're willing to give me the chance." Yami said.

"I need to do that, Yami. I won't trust you for a while, but I want to give you that chance." Yugi said

"I appreciate that, Yugi. It's more than I deserve." Yami said.

"I'm going to go ahead and tell you that I'm staying with Ryou for a while longer." Yugi said.

"I get that." Yami said.

Yugi reached into his pocket and pulled the necklace that Yami had returned to him out. "Yami, why did you return this to me?" Yugi asked.

"Because I didn't deserve to have it. You gave that to me when our friendship was strong. It was a symbol of our friendship and of the trust that you had in me. I didn't feel that I deserved to have it now." Yami said.

Yugi held it out to Yami. "I want you to take it back, Yami." Yugi said.

Yami looked at Yugi for a moment before he came to a decision. "No." Yami said.

"Why?" Yugi asked.

"Because I don't deserve it. Yugi, if I ever manage to regain your trust, then give it back to me. I'll know then." Yami said.

"Are you- sure?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, Yugi. Hold on to it." Yami said.

"Well, okay." Yugi said, putting the necklace back up.

The two then became silent again.

"Yugi, I know this will never be enough, but I am really sorry about this." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I know, Yami. It's just going to be hard for me for a while." Yugi said.

"I can understand that." Yami said. He then though of something else. "Yugi, do you plan on talking to the others?" Yami asked.

Yugi went silent. "No. Not right now. I don't think that I could handle everyone at once. It would be too much. It's just going to have to be one at a time, I think." Yugi said.

"Whatever works for you." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Yami." Yugi siad.

"I'm just glad that you're willing to talk to me." Yami said.

"I've wanted to for a while, but I was too afraid to." Yugi said.

"Well, I just want you to know that if you need anything, you can call me at anytime." Yugi said.

"Thanks, Yami." Yugi said.

"No problem." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "I'd better get back before Bakura and Marik have heart failure." Yugi said.

"I take it that they're not too happy with you wanting to talk to me." Yami said.

"They're just worried that I'm going to get hurt again, and they want to try and make sure that it doesn't happen again." Yugi said.

Yami grimaced.

Yugi grew worried at that.

Yami could tell that Yugi was worried. "Don't worry, Yugi. I get why they feel that way, and I honestly can't blame them for the way they are acting. I guess it just upsets me that they were there when I wasn't, and I have no one to blame, but myself for that." Yami said.

"Oh." Yugi said.

"Don't worry, Yugi. I'm just glad that someone was there for you." Yami said.

"So am I." Yugi said. He looked back over at Yami. "How much did you find out?" Yugi asked.

"Everything." Yami said.

"Oh." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you have nothing to be upset about." Yami said. He shook his head. "The one thing that I don't understand is how you could defend me and try to stop them from murdering me." Yami said.

"Because regardless of everything that had happened, you were still my Yami, and I didn't want anything to happen to you." Yugi said.

Yami shook his head. "I don't deserve to have someone like you in my life." Yami said.

"Well, you don't have a choice." Yugi said.

"I know, and I'm going to stay right here as long as you want me here." Yami said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

"No problem." Yami said.

* * *

Bakura was pacing the room nervously.

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Bakura, will you stop pacing and sit down? You are driving me crazy!" Ryou snapped.

"How can you not be worried, Ryou? I mean, Yugi is with the person that put him through hell." Bakura pointed out.

"I know that but I trust Yugi, and I know that he'll be fine. Yami isn't going to hurt him again. He's already hurt him so much that I don't think that Yami would even think about doing anything that might end up hurting Yugi in the end." Ryou said.

Bakura sighed. "I wish that I could believe that. I just worry that something is going to happen." Bakura started.

Ryou motioned for Bakura to sit by him.

Bakura walked over and sat grudgingly by his Hikari.

"Bakura, I know how much you care about Yugi, and I know that you don't want anything to happen to Yugi. But in this case, we have to trust Yugi." Ryou said. He reached over and took Bakura's hand in his. "Yugi has been separated from his Yami in a way that I can't even begin to understand. Yugi has wanted to have Yami back in his life for a while, and Yugi is taking the chance to have that. This is what Yugi wants, and we have to accept that." Ryou said.

"I know. I guess I'll get used to it at some point." Bakura said. He then growled. "But if Yami does anything that hurts Yugi again, I swear that I am going to kill him in the most painful way possible." Bakura said.

"And I won't stop you then." Ryou said.

* * *

Marik and Malik were walking around in the mall.

Marik was already loaded down with bags that Malik was forcing him to carry. "Have you not done enough shopping yet?" Marik asked.

"Nope." Malik said with a smile.

"Why not? We have been shopping for three hours already! I am tired!" Marik groaned. He hated shopping even more than Bakura, and Bakura would rather date a woman than go shopping.

Malik rolled his eyes. "That's not the reason that you want to leave." Malik said.

"It is too." Marik retorted, trying to appear honest.

Malik let out a frustrated sigh. "Marik, the only reason you want to leave is so that you can go and spy on Yugi and Yami right now, and there is no way that I am going to let you do something like that." Malik told him.

"Why not? I don't trust Yami around Yugi." Marik said.

"Well, that's your problem." Malik said as he continued to walk around.

"How can you trust that guy after all that he has done?" Marik asked.

"I don't trust Yami. It's Yugi that I trust. Yugi knows what he is doing, so you are just going to have to deal with the fact that Yugi wants to talk to Yami, and there is no reason for you to go and spy on him." Malik replied.

Marik sighed. "After everything Yami did to him, he doesn't deserve the chance to get Yugi's trust back. He doesn't deserve anything at all." Marik said.

"And I'm sure that Yami agrees with you, but that is up to Yugi. If Yugi wants Yami back in his life, then that is what is going to happen." Malik said.

Marik didn't look happy.

"But if Yami does anything to hurt Yugi again, then you are welcome to go and do whatever you want to him." Malik said.

Marik's eyes lit up. "Really?" Marik asked.

"Yes. Really." Malik said.

"Thank you." Marik said.

* * *

Heba and Atemu walked out of a movie theater after they had finished watching a movie.

"I loved that." Heba said with a smile.

"Glad you did." Atemu said as he wrapped his arm around Heba's waist.

"Yugi would have hated that movie, though. He hates horror movies." Heba said.

"With a passion." Atemu agreed.

"Atemu, I was surprised that you were so easy with letting Yugi see Yami. I thought you might have acted like Marik and Bakura." Heba said.

"Well, the choice is up to Yugi. If Yugi wants Yami back in his life, then I will support that. It's Yugi's choice that matters. Besides, I know that Yami won't screw everything up again." Atemu said. He looked down at Heba and added, "But I will kill him if he hurts Yugi again."

"If I don't first." Heba said.

* * *

Yugi and Yami were still in the park together.

"Well, I'd better be getting back." Yugi said.

"All right, Yugi." Yami siad.

The two stood up.

"Yugi, thank you for the chance." Yami said sincerely.

"I want you back, Yami." Yugi said.

"Well, what do we have here?" a snide voice said.

Yugi's entire body tensed. He would recognize that voice anywhere. He would never forget it. He turned and nearly had a heart attack.

There were three burly men standing there. One had blonde hair and green eyes with a scar on his face. Another had black hair and even blacker eyes. The third had red hair and blue eyes.

Yugi's entire body shook.

Yami realized Yugi was afraid and pushed him behind him.

"So, you here with your boyfriend now?" one asked.

Yami growled. "I suggest you go on." Yami said. He was ready to kill them if they tried to hurt Yugi.

"What? We're just saying hello to a fuck buddy." the blonde said.

It took two seconds for Yami to understand who they were.

If that wasn't enough, the fact that the link had flown open, and Yami saw all of Yugi's memories from that night clenched who they were.

Yami wanted to kill them, but he knew that he had to get Yugi out of there before he could do anything.

The three men were leering at Yugi. It was obvious what they were thinking.

Yami grabbed Yugi by the arm and pulled him away fast, noticing that Yugi was on the verge of tears.

The men stayed where they were, still smirking.

'I have to get Yugi out of here.' Yami thought. He pulled Yugi into a secluded area and teleported them out of there.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: As I'm sure you've guessed, it'll be about dealing with these three.

R&R.


	23. Hunting

Here's the next chapter.

I have started back to college, so updates will be scattered.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 23- Hunting

Yami had used his Shadow magic to teleport himself and Yugi back to the house where Ryou, Bakura, Marik, and Malik lived.

By now, Yugi had been unable to control himself after seeing those men again. He was now crying.

Yami wrapped an arm around Yugi. "Its okay, Yugi. You're safe now. You're home." Yami said.

Yugi looked up and realized that they were back at the house now."Come on. Let's get you inside." Yami said. 'And then I'm talking to Bakura and Marik about a hunting trip tonight.' Yami thought darkly.

Yugi opened the door and rushed in with Yami behind him.

Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik, all of whom were in the house, were shocked by the fact that Yugi was crying.

"Yugi, what-" Ryou started.

Yugi didn't give him time to answer before he dashed up the stairs to his room.

Malik and Ryou were right behind him.

Bakura turned, enraged. He grabbed Yami and shoved him against the wall, hard.

Yami winced. He hadn't expected any other reaction out of Bakura once Bakura saw Yugi crying like that.

"What the hell did you do?" Bakura growled.

"I knew we shouldn't have let Yugi go." Marik snapped, glaring daggers at Yami.

"I didn't do this." Yami said.

"Really? Then who did?" Bakura demanded.

"Can we talk in there?" Yami asked, motioning to the kitchen.

"Why?" Marik asked.

"Because I don't want Yugi to hear us." Yami said.

Bakura and Marik looked unsure for a second before they headed into the kitchen with Yami.

"What happened?" Bakura demanded.

"We were in the park, and we talked. Yugi had decided to go home and was about to leave when three guys showed up. Yugi got scared and was frightened of them. It didn't take much for me to figure out exactly _who _they were, but Yugi's side of the link flying open and seeing his memories of that night reinforced me theory of who they were." Yami said, his crimson eyes burning with unhidden anger and rage.

That was enough to tell Bakura and Marik who it was.

"It was them?" Bakura growled lowly.

Yami nodded.

"I'll kill them." Marik hissed.

"They didn't touch Yugi, did they?" Bakura asked.

"No. I didn't let them near him. Once I figured out who they were, I grabbed Yugi and ran. I had a feeling they might follow us, so I used my Shadow magic to teleport us here." Yami explained.

Marik looked at Yami. "Would you recognize them again if you saw them?" Marik asked.

"Without a doubt." Yami said, knowing that he would never forget their faces as long as he lived.

"Tell us what they looked like." Marik said.

"No. That brings me to what I was going to ask." Yami said.

"What?" Bakura asked suspiciously.

"Do you two feel like going hunting tonight?" Yami asked.

Marik and Bakura looked at him in surprise.

"You were the one that said we should never use our Shadow magic on other people, Yami." Bakura pointed out.

"Yeah, but this is different. Those three need to be taken care of. I don't care what happens to me because of it. I'm going to hunt those lowlifes down, and I am going to make them pay for what they've done to Yugi." Yami said, clenching his fists tightly. "Besides, I said we should never use our Shadow magic on innocent people. These three are hardly innocent." Yami said.

Bakura and Marik looked shocked and impressed.

Yami looked at them. "So, are you going to join me on hunting?" Yami asked.

Bakura and Marik smirked.

"Sure." Marik said.

"When?" Bakura added.

"I figure that Atemu is going to want in on this, too, so we all can figure that out." Yami said.

* * *

Yugi had rushed up the stairs and ran into his room. His entire body was shaking, and he was on the verge of hysterics. 'No! They can't be back! I know that they're going to come after me again!' Yugi thought frantically.

Ryou and Malik rushed into the room.

"Yugi, what is it?" Ryou asked, worried.

Yugi turned to them.

Malik and Ryou were shocked by the tears and the fear that were all over Yugi's face.

"T-t-th-they were there. In t-the park." Yugi said.

"Who?" Malik asked.

"Those three. From that night!" Yugi said, getting hysterical.

"You mean the ones who-" Ryou started.

Yugi nodded before he broke down crying.

Ryou caught him and sunk down to his knees holding Yugi as he cried. "Shh. Its okay, Yugi. You're safe now." Ryou said.

"If Yami ha-hadn't been there, th-they m-might ha-have-" Yugi couldn't finish the sentence.

"They didn't do anything, Yugi, and they won't. We will not let them hurt you again." Ryou said.

Yugi didn't calm down and kept crying.

Ryou looked at Malik and mouthed 'Call Heba.'

Malik nodded and stepped out of the room to call Heba.

* * *

Atemu and Heba arrived at the house in a panic. The second that they had heard that Yugi had seen the three men that had raped him again and that he had had a breakdown, the two had rushed over to the house as fast as they could.

Heba looked at Bakura, Marik, and Yami as if asking where he was.

"His room." Marik said.

Heba then flew upstairs without so much as a glance at them.

Atemu looked at them and said, "Did they do anything to him?"

"No. Thankfully, I was still there when they showed up. I got Yugi here with my teleporting power." Yami explained.

"Good." Atemu said. He was now fighting his anger. "What do we do?" he asked.

Bakura smirked. "Well, Yami knows what these guys look like, so we're going out on a hunting trip tonight." Bakura said.

Atemu looked shocked.

"Atemu, after what they did to Yugi, I think that they deserve whatever we throw at them." Yami said.

"I agree, but I didn't think that you would. You were the one against using our Shadow magic like that for any reason." Atemu said.

"True, but I've had a change of heart. I think that we need exact revenge for what they've done to Yugi, and I believe that they deserve a stricter punishment than anything people here could pull." Yami said.

Bakura grunted. "They'd probably get off." Bakura said.

"True. In any case, I want revenge against them for what they did to Yugi. Plus, I said we shouldn't use our power against innocent people. Those three don't fall into that category." Yami said.

"Hmm. True." Atemu said.

"So, are you going to be joining us in the hunt?" Bakura asked.

Atemu looked at them. "Who stays here with Yugi?" Atemu asked.

"I think that Ryou and Malik can protect Yugi just as well as we can. Heba can stay if he wants, too." Marik said.

Atemu nodded.

"Well?" Yami asked.

"When do we leave?" Atemu asked.

The other three smirked.

* * *

Heba ran into the room and found Yugi crying with Ryou and Malik on both sides of him although Yugi wasn't as hysterical as he had been before.

Heba ran over to Yugi. "Yugi, are you okay?" Heba asked.

Yugi looked and threw his arms around his brother. "I thought they would get me again." Yugi said, shaking.

"They won't, Yugi." Heba said, holding his brother.

"If Yami hadn't been there-" Yugi trailed off.

Heba figured that Yami had still been there from them talking, and he was thankful that Yami had been there. "Yami was there, Yugi, and you're fine." Heba said.

"Yeah. They won't hurt you again. You know that we're not going to let them near you ever again." Ryou added.

'Besides, Yami knows what they look now, which means that we can finally make them pay.' Malik thought.

* * *

Once Yugi had calmed down, he had decided to take a nap.

Ryou said that he would stay with Yugi in case he had a nightmare, which would most likely happen.

Heba and Malik headed downstairs to where they knew the Yamis were.

"How is he?" Yami asked.

"He finally calmed down. He's asleep now." Heba said.

"Ryou stayed in case Yugi woke up from a nightmare." Malik added.

Heba looked over at Yami. "Yami, I'm glad that you were there. I don't even want to think about what might have happened if you hadn't been there." Heba said.

"I'm glad, too." Yami said.

"They didn't touch him, right?" Malik asked.

"No. I got us out of there fast. I could tell by the looks of them what would have happened if I hadn't been there, though." Yami said.

"It's a good thing you were there." Atemu said.

"So, now what?" Malik asked.

All eyes turned to Malik.

"You're kidding, right?" Malik asked.

"This isn't something to kid about." Marik said seriously.

"I know that, but Yami knows what these guys look like, so we can track them down now and make them pay." Malik said.

"We are going to track them down and make them pay. You are staying here." Bakura said.

"But-" Heba started.

"No buts, Heba. Yugi needs someone to stay here, so you two and Ryou are going to stay here with Yugi. You can use your magic to protect him if need be. The four of us are going to be going out hunting tonight." Atemu said.

Heba watched them. "You're going to make sure they pay?" Heba asked.

"Of course. Trust me. Yugi won't have to worry about them coming after him again when we get home tonight." Yami said.

"We won't mention this to Yugi. Despite everything, we all know that he wouldn't want this." Malik said.

"Right." Marik said.

"Could you do me one favor since we can't come?" Heba asked.

"What's that?" Yami asked.

A dark look crossed Heba's face. "Make sure it's painful." Heba said.

Bakura smirked. "Need you ask that with me and Marik going?" Bakura asked.

"Actually-" Heba started.

"Heba, I know you were talking to me and Yami, and you don't have a thing to worry about. It will be painful. Yami and I aren't backing down this time." Atemu said.

Heba nodded.

"When do you leave?" Malik asked.

"We'll leave at nine." Yami said.

"And we won't be coming back until we have found them." Marik added.

Heba and Malik nodded, glad that those men were going to pay.

* * *

At nine that night, the four Yamis left to start their hunt.

Ryou, Malik, and Heba watched them go.

"I hope that those three men pay for everything that Yugi has gone through." Heba growled.

"Oh. Don't worry. Marik and Bakura will make sure that it is painful." Malik said.

"What about Yami and Atemu?" Ryou asked.

"They will make an exception." Malik said.

"Yugi won't like this." Ryou said softly.

"That's why he won't know until it's too late." Malik said.

Ryou sighed as he sat on the couch. "I hate this, but I know its for the best." Ryou said, rubbing his head.

Heba sat down by him and placed a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Ryou." Heba said.

Ryou turned to look at Heba.

"The truth is that Yugi probably wasn't their first victim, and he probably wasn't the last." Heba said.

Ryou nodded. "I know. I don't hate what they're doing. I hate lying to Yugi." Ryou said.

"Right now, the less Yugi knows the better." Malik said.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"Hmm. Quite the turn of events." Osiris said.

Isis turned to Ra. "So, what will you do?" Isis asked.

Ra looked at her. "Meaning?" Ra asked.

"They are going to use their Shadow magic to harm a human. What will you do to them?" Isis asked.

Ra smirked. "Not a thing. As far as I am concerned, they are acting in the defense of a Hikari." Ra said.

"But one has not been attacked recently." Horus said.

"Perhaps, but in the park, they would have had Pharaoh Yami not been there." Anubis pointed out.

"Besides, the damage done to Yugi does warrant some kind of action." Hathor said.

"Well, put it to a vote?" Ma'at suggested.

"Does anyone think that we should punish the Yamis for all this?" Ra asked.

No one voted yes.

"Then it is agreed. They will be allowed to punish these three men without any repercussions." Ra said.

Anubis shook his head. "You wouldn't have punished them regardless of what the vote was." Anubis said.

"Well, I believe that these men deserve all that they are getting, and there is nothing that is going to change my mind about that fact." Ra said.

The gods were looking forward to seeing what it was that Marik, Bakura, Atemu, and Yami did to the three men.

* * *

~The Hunt~

Yami, Atemu, Bakura, and Marik had gone back to the park that Yugi and Yami had been at when they saw the men.

"So, where do we go from here?" Bakura asked.

"These lowlifes are nothing but rapists. It doesn't take much to figure out what they're doing." Yami said a look of absolute disgust on his face.

"Probably searching out someone else." Marik added, angry.

Atemu looked at them. "Calm down, guys. We have to focus on finding them first. Once we do, we can give ourselves over to the anger." Atemu said.

"Okay. These guys attacked Yugi in the park near the Game Shop that night, and you two saw them here in this park. They must stake out parks, looking for who they attack." Bakura said.

"That doesn't help. There are a lot of parks in Domino." Yami said.

The four weren't sure where to go from there.

A thought then crossed Marik's mind. "Bakura, if you were going to break into a place and steal from it, wouldn't you case the place? See the good places to go and look for quick getaways, right?" Marik asked.

"Yeah. It's always best to know the area that you're planning to attack. Why?" Bakura asked.

Marik smiled. "I think we just have to wait here for our prey." Marik siad.

All three looked at him.

"Think about it. These guys probably roam the park for a few days before they attack. They were casing the park. I bet they attacked Yugi because they noticed that he went to the same park at the same time every night. They're hunting themselves. They were in the park today looking over it." Marik said.

"Running into Yugi was just a coincidence." Yami said.

"Right. I bet they don't strike in the same park all the time. They move." Marik said.

Yami growled. "Bastards." Yami growled.

"Yes, but that does help. If Marik's right, then they're going to be coming back tonight." Atemu said.

"Right. They'll wait until there aren't many people then come. Whether they plan on attacking someone or just casing, they are most likely going to come back tonight." Marik said.

The four looked at each other.

"Looks like we just have to wait." Atemu said.

Marik and Bakura both groaned. Neither of them liked the idea of having to wait around for their prey to come to them.

"Just cool it. We wait a little while and then we act." Atemu said. He looked over at Yami. "Yami, you're going to have to be the one on the lookout. You know exactly what they look like." Atemu told him.

Yami nodded. "Don't worry, Atemu. There is no way that I am ever going to forget those faces." Yami said.

"Then we have nothing t worry about." Bakura said.

All four were ready to make them pay.

* * *

~One Hour~

The three men who Yami had seen in the park were walking through the park again.

"Damn! There's no one out here today." the blonde guy said.

"Well, I guess the idea that our friend came back was wrong." the black-haired guy said.

"Oh, well. He was a good one. Thought for sure that he would have died from the beating that we gave him." the red-head said.

The blonde smirked. "Well, we'll just have to hunt him down again and have fun with him again." the blonde said.

"What about the guy that was with him? He seemed to be kind of protective of the kid." the red-head said.

"Please! It would be three to one. Even if he's the boyfriend and tried to stop us, one of us could hold him down, and he could watch while we fuck the kid." the blonde said.

"Yeah. One of us could take him down." the black-haired guy agreed.

All three left.

* * *

Yami heard all that they said and gritted his teeth in anger. He couldn't believe that they were thinking of doing that to his sweet Hikari again. It pissed him off.

Atemu, Bakura, and Marik saw the way that Yami reacted and knew instantly that they had found their prey.

"So, do we attack?" Marik asked.

"Yes." Yami said, barely controlled his anger.

The four then started for the three unsuspecting men.

* * *

"So, do we start searching at another park?" the red-head asked.

"No. We start searching for our fuck buddy." the blonde said. He was looking forward to having another round at Yugi.

"Not happening." a gruff voice growled.

The three turned to find Bakura striding there.

"What do you want, Spiky?" the black-haired guy asked.

Bakura gave him an eerie smirk. "Let's just say that I have a bone to pick with you." Bakura said.

"Like what?" the red-head demanded, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh. He's not the only one who has the bone to pick with you."Marik, Yami, and Atemu then walked out as well.

"So, is this a party?" the blonde asked.

"In a way. We call it a revenge party, though." Marik said.

The dark-haired man then noticed Yami and Atemu. "Hey! Look! It's our little fuck buddy's friend!" he said.

Yami gritted his teeth at the way he had referred to Yugi.

"You might not want to talk about him that way." Bakura said in a warning tone.

"Or what?" the blonde taunted.

Yami, Atemu, Bakura, and Marik had all had it with them.

An evil smirk spread across Yami's face. "You know, I think it's time that we get revenge for what you put Yugi through, and I think it's about time that you knew what real fear was." Yami said.

The black-haired guy snorted. "Like you can do anything to us." he said.

"Yeah. In case you haven't noticed, we've got rich parents. We can get out of anything." the red-head added.

"Doesn't matter in our case." Bakura said.

"You can't do anything without getting yourselves in a lot of trouble." the blonde said.

Yami noticed the gun that he had. 'I'll need to remember that for later.' Yami thought.

"So, just leave." the red-head said.

"We're not worried. We have no need to worry about getting into trouble of any kind. We have our own method of doing things." Bakura said.

The blonde looked pissed. "That's it! You're dead!" the blonde shouted and lunged for Bakura.

Bakura easily kicked the guy in the chest. "You know, I've killed people simply because they pisses me off. I wouldn't feel anything over ending your life." Bakura hissed, his eyes darkening.

The look caused a slight fear to pass through the three, although it was a fleeting fear.

"We're not scared!" the red-head said.

Atemu glanced around. "Perhaps we should take this elsewhere." Atemu said, not wanting anyone to hear them.

"We're not moving." the black-haired guy said.

"You don't have to." Yami stated.

Suddenly, the area around them started to darken, and it wasn't long before the three men weren't able to see anything around them.

"What the hell is this?" one of them shouted.

"Where are we?" the blonde demanded.

Marik smirked. "We are in the Shadow Realm. You might as well enjoy it." Marik said.

There were sudden pained screams that echoed around them, making all three men jump in fear.

"The screams that you are hearing are those of the evil souls that are forever trapped in the Shadow Realm." Yami said.

"You'll soon join them." Atemu added.

"We didn't do anything to deserve this!" the blonde shouted.

"Really? Do you not call raping and beating someone and then leaving them to die is not evil?" Bakura asked.

The men flinched. It didn't take any of them saying anything to try and flee.

Bakura grabbed the blonde, Marik grabbed the black-haired guy, and Atemu grabbed the red-head.

"What? No longer defiant?" Bakura asked.

"Come on!" the red-head said.

"Not a chance." Yami said from in front of them.

The three men looked up.

"Let's fine out what type of people they are." Yami said.

The four Yamis used their Shadow magic to find out about the three.

What they learned disgusted them.

"Well, it looks like our friend was not your first victim nor your last." Bakura said, unsurprised.

"But he was also not your youngest." Atemu said.

Marik growled. "How can you be so sick? Innocent children. Children that haven't even the chance to experience life. Ones who weren't even teenagers!" Marik snapped.

"It's not like any of them said no!" the black-haired guy said.

"Of course they didn't. You covered their mouths or gagged them. You couldn't have understood them." Bakura said, tightening his grip on the blonde.

"We're entitled." the red-head said.

"Just because your parents have money doesn't entitle you to rape innocent children. We have a friend whose rich, and he would gladly rip you apart for something that atrocious." Marik said.

Yami glared at them. "You were thinking about going after Yugi again. There's no way in hell you'll have that chance." Yami said.

The three men looked and were scared at how blood-red Yami's eyes had become. They couldn't believe how scary Yami looked.

"You should have never attacked Yugi. You might not have been discovered otherwise." Yami said.

The three were scared now.

"So, what do you think we should do with this scum? Bakura asked.

The three were hoping that they would be let go.

"Don't get your hopes up. You won't be living soon." Atemu said.

Marik smirked. "How about a little mind pain?" Marik asked.

The other three Yamis looked at him.

"You know? Messing with their minds?" Marik asked.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "That's not a bad idea. After all, everything done here is in the mind. A little pain wouldn't kill them." Yami said.

The three looked terrified.

"Look! We're sorry! There's no way that we'll ever do anything like this again if you let us go!" the blonde said.

"Yeah! We've learned our lesson!" the red-head added.

"Right. We believe them, don't we?" Bakura asked sarcastically.

"People like you don't change. For all we know, you'd go after Yugi again, and there's no way in hell you are getting within three hundred feet of him." Atemu said.

The three were shaking now.

"Scared, are you? How do you think all your victims felt?" Marik asked.

"All right. Let's get busy." Yami said.

~Two Hours Later~

By the time Bakura and Marik were done with their torturing, even though Yami and Atemu added in a little, all three men were scared and in immense pain.

"Now you've gotten a taste of the pain you left all your victims in, although their pain couldn't be erased. They'll always have emotional scars from what you people thought was fun." Bakura spat, kicking one.

"We're sorry!" all three said.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "No, you're not. You're just sorry that someone found out." Bakura said.

"Let's end this." Atemu said. He just wanted them dead so that he would know that they would not be able to hurt Yugi again.

"Okay." Marik said. He pulled out the Millennium Rod.

Yami placed a hand on Marik's arm. "Hold on a second." Yami said.

"What?" Marik asked.

Bakura starred at him in disbelief. "You're not seriously thinking about letting them live, are you?" Bakura asked.

"Bakura, if a thought like that crossed my mind, then I would be asking you to kill me." Yami said.

"Then what is it?" Atemu asked.

Yami looked at the three men. "I have a better idea." Yami said.

* * *

~Ryou's House~

Yami, Atemu, Marik, and Bakura all walked into the house to find that Ryou, Malik, and Heba were in the living room waiting for them.

"Are they-" Heba started.

"Gone." Atemu said.

"Was it hard to find them?" Ryou asked.

"We had to wait a bit, but they came back to the same park. We took care of them." Bakura answered, wrapping an arm around Ryou's waist.

"Was it painful?" Malik asked.

Marik smirked. "Without a doubt." Marik said.

"Yugi won't approve of this, but at least we know that they won't be back." Heba said.

"Yeah. We know that they won't." Yami said.

* * *

Yugi had been rather surprised when he found that he had slept from yesterday afternoon to the next morning. 'I must have really worn myself out.' Yugi thought. He shuddered at the memory of those men in the park, and he was glad that Yami had been there for him.

Yugi was surprised when he found Yami asleep on the couch. 'I'm amazed Bakura didn't throw him out of this house.' Yugi thought.

Yugi checked and found that Atemu and Heba were there as well.

'I'd better fix enough breakfast for eight people this time.' Yugi thought. He went into the kitchen and got busy.

Yami was the first one up.

"Morning." Yugi said.

Yami smiled at Yugi. "Morning." Yami siad.

"What are you doing here, Yami? I mean, I thought Bakura would have overreacted with how I was acting." Yugi said.

"Well, he listened to me for once, and I wanted to make sure you were all right. Once it got late, I stayed." Yami said.

Yugi watched a moment and then said, "Now try the truth."

Yami sighed. "Okay. The truth is that Atemu, Marik, Bakura, and I went out last night." Yami said.

It didn't take much for Yugi to figure out what they did.

"You went after them." Yugi said.

"Yeah. We did." Bakura said as the others filed in.

"We weren't about to let them slip through our fingers again, Yugi. They had to pay for what they did." Marik said.

Yugi nodded. "I know why you did it." Yugi said.

The oven timer went off, and Yugi headed into the kitchen.

"What's for breakfast?" Marik asked.

"Muffins." Yugi answered.

"What kind?" Bakura asked as everyone walked in.

"You have the choice of blueberry, wild berry, banana nut, and chocolate chip." Yugi said.

The group looked surprised at how much food there was.

Yugi shrugged. "I saw Yami, Atemu, and Heba were here, so I made sure that there was enough for everyone." Yugi said.

"Let's eat!" Bakura said.

Everyone sat around the table, and they started eating.

Yami was a little worried that Yugi might be upset with him for what he did.

Atemu could tell that Yami was upset, and it didn't take much for him to figure out what was upsetting him. 'Well, Yami won't ask, so I will.' Atemu thought. He turned to Yugi and said, "Yugi, are you upset with us for doing what we did?"

Bakura, Marik, and Yami were all listening to this.

Yugi shook his head. "No. I'm honestly not surprised. I figured that you would do after them the second you found out who it was." Yugi said.

"Is that why you didn't tell us?" Bakura asked.

"Partly." Yugi said.

"You knew that they were rich kids and figured that they would get away with it anyway." Yami said.

"Yeah." Yugi said. He shook his head. "Nothing against Seto, but kids with rich parents always seem to get out trouble because their parents throw around all that money. I didn't see a point in saying anything." Yugi said.

"Well, in the justice system, that might have helped, but we got the revenge we wanted, so there's not a chance that they will ever come back." Bakura said.

"I know, and I'm glad of that." Yugi said.

Heba frowned. "Yugi, what is it? I can tell that something is bothering you." Heba said.

"Are their deaths going to be seen as natural causes?" Yugi asked.

"Not likely." Marik said.

"Then its not over." Yugi said.

"Meaning?" Yami asked.

"My-rape case is an open case. When they find out they were the ones who did it, I'm going to be first on their suspect list. Who has more reason to kill them than me?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, you don't have to worry about that." Atemu said.

"Yes, I do." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you weren't their first or last victim. There were a lot of other people with a reason." Bakura said.

"But I'll still be a suspect." Yugi said. He didn't look forward to that.

"Is there a way to get suspicion off him?" Ryou asked.

"A little late now." Malik said.

"Not really." Marik said.

"Won't be much of an investigation." Bakura added.

All three Hikaris looked at their Yamis.

"Meaning?" Yugi asked.

"Yami figured that much and came up with an alternative plan." Atemu answered.

~Flashback~

"_So, what's this better idea?" Marik asked._

"_Their deaths will be investigated, and Yugi could be suspected if it comes they were the ones who raped him." Yami said._

"_So could any of their other victims." Marik pointed out._

"_And they don't need to go through that either." Yami said._

"_What's your idea?" Atemu asked._

_Yami motioned to the blonde. "He has a gun?" Yami asked._

"_Use that?" Atemu asked._

"_No. The easiest way to get a quick investigation is a double murder-suicide." Yami said._

_The other Yamis understood._

"_No way we'll go along with that!" the blonde spat._

_Yami smirked. "You don't have to." Yami said. He turned to Marik. "Would you?" Yami asked._

_Marik smirked. "With pleasure." Marik said, tailoring the Millennium Rod in his hand._

_

* * *

_

~End Flashback~

"So, you used the power of the Millennium Rod to force one of them to kill the other two before killing himself?" Malik asked.

The four nodded.

"That was smart." Heba said.

"Open and shut case." Atemu said.

"We also had the one that committed suicide leave a note admitting to what they'd been doing." Marik said.

"You couldn't leave it alone?" Malik asked.

"Nope. Everyone will know what they did." Marik said.

"That was his idea." Bakura said.

* * *

Yami had been worried that Yugi was upset with him over his idea since Yugi hadn't said much.

Yami had decided to go back to the Game Shop.

It surprised Yami when Yugi showed up later.

"Yugi?" Yami asked.

"I wanted to talk to you." Yugi said.

"Okay." Yami said.

"Why did you come up with that plan?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, I know you're upset, but-" Yami started.

"I'm not upset. I just want to know what made you come up with all that." Yugi said.

"I knew that if a murder investigation was launched, then you might be a suspect, and so would all of their other victims. None of you deserved that. I just wanted to make it easier." Yami said.

"And you did that." Yugi said.

Yami nodded.

"So, you did it to protect me?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah." Yami said.

What happened next shocked Yami.

Yugi hugged him.

"Thanks, Yami. That means a lot. I am glad that they're gone." Yugi said.

Yami smiled as he wrapped his arms around Yugi glad to be hugging Yugi. "Glad I could help." Yami said.

Things were starting to get a little better.

* * *

It didn't surprise any of them when a news report came on later telling about the double murder-suicide as well as the note that admitted what they had done. Part of it had come to an end.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I have nothing against rich people, but I just feel that they do use money to get away with stuff that anyone without money wouldn't be able to get away with. It happens too much although I do know that not all rich people are like that. That's why I did it this way.

Next: Yami learns something else about Yugi from when he was ignoring him.

R&R.


	24. Talks

Here's the next chapter.

I'm still working on the next chapter of Starting Over, so I decided to go ahead with this story since I'm having a bit of trouble with Starting Over.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 24- Talks

After having talked to Yami and knowing what Yami had done for him as far as the men who raped him went, Yugi was finding it easier to be around Yami.

Now, Yugi would spend some time with Yami.

The two would watch movies, play games, or just talk, things that they had done before everything went wrong.

Yami was thrilled with the fact that Yugi now felt more comfortable with him and was letting him be a part of his life again.

Bakura and Marik weren't quite so wary of Yami now. The two had been glad that Yami helped them deal with the men who had raped Yugi, and they weren't so uneasy about Yami spending time Yugi.

Atemu, Heba, Ryou, and Malik all just wanted what was best for Yugi, and they could tell that letting Yami spend time with Yugi was the best thing for Yugi at the moment.

* * *

Yugi entered his biology class with Malik and Bakura.

Yami was already in the room sitting at the table that Yugi normally sat at with Malik and Bakura.

Now, Bakura and Malik didn't mind Yami sitting with them during the class.

Yami would sometimes eat lunch with Yugi and the others and at other times he ate lunch with Joey and the others since they were still his friends.

Yugi understood, but he still wasn't sure that he was ready to talk to them yet, so he still kept his distance from them.

"How was lunch?" Yami asked as Yugi, Malik, and Bakura sat down.

"Fine if you consider having to listen to Bakura and Marik compare sexual exploits." Yugi said.

Yami's jaw dropped.

Bakura shrugged. "We live in the same house. We hear each other. We just like to see who pleases their Hikari more." Bakura said.

Malik groaned ad dropped his head onto the table.

"Needless to say, I think that Marik and Bakura are going to be sharing the couch for a while." Yugi said. He shook his head and added, "Thank goodness."

"What's that supposed to mean, shrimp?" Bakura asked.

Yugi starred at him. "Bakura, if you and Marik can hear each other, what do you think I hear?" Yugi asked.

"Oh." Bakura said.

"Yeah. I've already been scarred for life." Yugi said.

"I can't believe you two don't bother using your Shadow magic to create a silencing spell on the room." Yami said.

Yugi looked at Yami wide-eyed. "You can do that?" Yugi asked.

Yami nodded.

Yugi glared at Bakura. "Why don't you do that?" Yugi hissed.

Bakura shrugged. "Never thought about it." Bakura said.

"Well, start using it." Yugi growled.

"Please!" Malik added. He then glanced over at Yugi and said, "I'll start making Marik use one, too. Whenever I let him back in the bedroom at night, anyway."

"Thanks." Yugi said.

"I'd hate to have to live with that." Yami said.

"What about Atemu and Heba?" Yugi asked.

"They're not to that level yet. Heba stays in your room right now." Yami said.

"Well, I hope Atemu thinks to use one." Yugi said.

"Maybe you should mention the silencing spell thing to Heba." Yami said.

"Not a bad idea." Yugi agreed.

The teacher walked in and started class.

Yami glanced over at Yugi. 'I'm amazed that Yugi can talk about sex so easily given what happened.' Yami thought.

* * *

Yugi had gone over to the Game Shop to do his homework after school. "Where are Atemu and Heba?" Yugi asked.

"No clue." Yami admitted. He motioned to the other kitchen chair and said, "You might as well sit down and get started."

"Right." Yugi said.

The two sat at the table and started on their homework.

Yami remembered the conversation from biology class. "Yugi, can I ask you something?" Yami asked.

"What?" Yugi asked, looking up.

"Well, what we were talking about in biology class. I guess I just don't understand how you can talk about sex so easily with-" Yami started.

"Oh." Yugi said. He laughed. "Well, I know that not all sex is bad, Yami. If you love a person, then it's not bad. It's a way of expressing your love for them. I know that Bakura and Marik love Ryou and Malik, so it makes it easier." Yugi said.

"Okay." Yami said.

"The only time sex is bad is when it is like my case, but I know that not all sex is bad. Granted, I'll have trouble with it when it comes to me doing it, but I doubt I'll have to worry about that for a while." Yugi said.

"Why's that?" Yami asked.

"Because I'm not sure when I'll start dating." Yugi said.

"Oh." Yami said. He knew that he still loved Yugi, and a part of him hoped that Yugi would still feel something for him. He wasn't going to get his hopes up too high, though. "That makes sense now." Yami said.

"Besides, I have to be able to deal with it to listen to those four." Yugi said.

"I would have been driven out of my mind." Yami said.

"Which is why I have my MP3 player on all night, and I have the volume on as high as it goes on those nights." Yugi said.

"You must use a lot of batteries." Yami said.

"I stay in stock of them." Yugi said. He leaned back in his chair. "It's not like it's always like that. I mean, after it first happened, they were real careful not to say things or do things that reminded me of that night. At the time, listening to them would have had me screaming. Now, I'm able to deal." Yugi said.

"That's good, though." Yami said.

"Yeah. Its thanks a lot to Dr. Grey. She's really helped me deal with it." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "I'm glad that she's helping you then." Yami said.

"So am I." Yugi said.

The two then concentrated on their homework again.

Once they were done, the two were free.

"What now?" Yami asked.

"How about a game of Duel Monsters?" Yugi asked.

"Sure." Yami said.

The two got their decks and started playing.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"Very interesting." Horus said.

"Indeed. It would appear that Pharaoh Yami is doing everything in his power to make things right with Yugi." Isis agreed.

"And he seems to be succeeding." Anubis added.

"But their relationship is nowhere close to where it was before." Osiris said.

"Nor will it ever be. A great deal of damage was one, and what happened cannot be undone or forgotten. Pharaoh Yami himself admitted that. However, they do seem to be rebuilding their relationship." Ma'at said.

"True, but that does not mean that Pharaoh Yami should be let off the hook." Horus said.

"No one is letting him off the hook." Ra said.

The other gods and goddesses looked over at Ra.

"What happened is not something that can be easily let go of. Pharaoh Yami will not be let off the hook. He will have to answer for his crimes against his Hikari." Ra said.

"Has your decision changed as to what you are going to do to Pharaoh Yami?" Hathor asked.

"I have not decided yet. There is someone that I must talk to before such a decision is made." Ra said.

The others looked confused.

"Whom are you speaking of?" Isis asked.

"Yugi, of course. I must speak with him before anything is decided." Ra said.

"Is that wise?" Ma'at asked.

"Yugi will be able to understand why we have to do this. He will also need to be informed of everything that we are planning. It is he who will be the one affected the most by our decision." Ra said.

"You aren't going to do something that would upset Yugi, are you?" Osiris asked.

"Certainly not. My priority is the Hikari." Ra said.

"When will you speak with him?" Anubis asked.

"Soon." Ra answered.

* * *

Yugi and Yami had finished the game in a draw.

"Well, that was unexpected." Yugi said.

"Not really. You and I are both excellent at Duel Monsters." Yami said.

"Yeah, but one of us normally wins." Yugi said.

"A draw isn't bad, either, Yugi. It just means that no one won or lost." Yami said.

"I suppose so." Yugi said.

The door opened, and Atemu and Heba walked in.

"Where have you two been?" Yugi asked.

"We've just been hanging out." Heba said.

"Well, Yugi and I did something productive. We actually got our homework done before we did that." Yami said.

"So what? You know that Heba and I are going to get our homework done." Atemu said.

"Well, why don't you start tutoring your boyfriend in math then?" Yami asked.

"Because I don't have that kind of patience." Atemu said.

"What?" Heba exclaimed, glaring.

"I'm sorry, Heba, but you are horrible at math, and there is no way that I would have the patience to go over the exact same problem with you five times before you finally understand how to do it. You are much better off with Yami as your tutor in this area." Atemu said.

"Actually, it usually takes him twice as long to understand a problem." Yami said.

"Yami!" Heba groaned.

"Come on, Heba. You've always done horribly at math, and you know it." Yugi said.

"I can't help that math is not my strong suit." Heba said.

"Come on. Let's get to work." Yami said.

"Well, I think that I'll head on home." Yugi said.

Yami, Atemu, and Heba all turned to look at Yugi.

"What?" Yugi asked.

"I'll walk you home." Atemu said.

"You don't have to act all overprotective of me." Yugi said.

"Yes, we do!" Yami, Heba, and Atemu said.

"Geez. And I thought I'd become paranoid." Yugi muttered.

"Yugi, we don't want anything to happen to you." Heba said

"Yes, I know, and I'll actually accept. I have to admit that I do get a little uneasy alone at times." Yugi said.

"Let's go." Atemu said.

Yugi and Atemu then left.

"I hope Yugi gets better." Heba said.

"He is, Heba. It's just going to take a while." Yami said.

Heba smiled. "Yeah. I know." Heba said.

"Let's get to work. I'd like to be done before we need to go to bed." Yami said.

"Yami, it's only seven." Heba said.

"I know." Yami said.

"You never go to bed until eleven or eleven-thirty." Heba continued.

"I know." Yami said.

Heba glared. "You can be cruel." Heba said.

Yami smirked. "I know." Yami said.

Heba groaned.

"Come on." Yami said.

The two headed to the kitchen to get to work.

* * *

Atemu and Yugi walked toward Ryou's house.

"Thanks, Atemu. I do appreciate this." Yugi said.

"No problem. We all just want you to be safe, Yugi." Atemu said.

"I don't mind walking, but I get more uneasy about being alone when it gets dark." Yugi said.

"I know. That's when the creeps come out." Atemu said. He was constantly watching around to make sure that no one was coming after them.

"It'll be easier when I do start living at the Game Shop again." Yugi said.

Atemu glanced over at Yugi. "Are you planning to move back, Yugi?" Atemu asked.

"Not quite yet, and please don't tell anyone I told you this. I'm just thinking about it. I mean, Grandpa's been gone on that year-long archeological dig for almost eleven months now, and I think I need to be back before he gets home." Yugi said.

"Yugi, if you explain the situation to Grandpa, he will understand why you aren't living at home." Atemu said.

"I know. I want to come home, though. I miss it." Yugi said.

"You know that you can come home whenever you want. Bakura and Marik will just have to deal with the fact that you're going to be living at home again." Atemu said.

Yugi smiled. "They won't be upset about that, Atemu. I think that they know that Yami isn't going to hurt me anymore. It's my decision, anyway." Yugi said.

"I know. Just let us know what you end up deciding, Yugi. You know that we're all going to be behind you no matter what you decide." Atemu said.

"I know, and I appreciate that." Yugi said.

The two had arrived back at Ryou's house.

"Well, thanks for walking me back, Atemu." Yugi said.

"Anytime." Atemu said before he started to head back home.

Yugi then went into the house.

* * *

"So, how have you been, Yugi?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi was in another session with her.

"I'm doing better. Writing in the journal like you said has helped me a lot." Yugi said.

"And with your friends?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Yami and I are on good terms. I don't mind being alone with him. We talk a lot. I can tell he tries to be careful with what he says. He doesn't want me to get too upset by him saying something." Yugi said.

"Has he?" Dr. Grey asked.

"A few times. He apologizes profusely each time. I tell him that it's okay. I know that Yami never means these things." Yugi said.

"Well, that's good. Do you ever talk to him about what happened?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Sometimes. I just get these times when I start talking about it. Yami and the others always listen to me when I get to talking about it." Yugi said.

"Well, that's a good thing, Yugi." Dr. Grey said.

"Yeah. I know." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey watched him a moment. "Yugi, can I ask you a personal question?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi smiled. "Hasn't everything I've talked to you about been personal?" Yugi asked.

Dr. Grey chuckled. "Yes. I suppose it has been, but this one is very personal." Dr. Grey said.

"Go ahead." Yugi said.

"Yugi, do you love Yami?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Of course. He is my best friend." Yugi said.

"Yugi, that's not what I mean. Do you love him as in I want to date him love him?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi looked surprised.

"That one you don't necessarily have to answer." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi hesitated for a moment before he decided to be honest. "Yes. I love Yami." Yugi admitted.

"I thought so." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi looked up. "You knew?" Yugi asked.

"Of course I knew. I could tell from some of our early sessions that you did. I just didn't bring it up then." Dr. Grey said.

"Oh." Yugi said.

"Did you know before you were raped?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi nodded. "I had thought about telling Yami because I thought he loved me, too, but then he started dating Tea. I figured I was wrong. When they broke up, I had considered telling Yami, but all the ignoring began, and you know that things just got worse then." Yugi said.

"Yes. I do. Tell me. Did you ever stop loving him?" Dr. Grey asked.

"No." Yugi said quietly.

"And you still love him?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi nodded.

"Have you told him?" Dr. Grey asked.

"No. I-I don't want to lose him again. If Yami doesn't love me, it will change everything, and if he hates gay people, then he would leave again." Yugi said.

"Yugi, Yami's brother is gay, and he is around others who are as well. I don't think that will be a problem." Dr. Grey said.

"I can't tell him." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey watched Yugi for a moment. "Does Yami know that even though you are male you can have children?" Dr. Grey asked.

"No." Yugi said.

"Then Yami has no idea that you had gotten pregnant from the rape." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi shook his head. "No. Yami doesn't know." Yugi said.

After Yugi had gone home form the hospital and after Yami had ignored him trying to tell him all those times, Yugi had tried to kill himself. It was at the hospital that time that Yugi learned he was pregnant. He knew without a doubt that he had gotten pregnant from the rape. The next month had been hell for Yugi. He was going crazy, knowing that he was pregnant because of rape. Nothing anyone had said had helped. After a month, Yugi had lost the child naturally. The doctors had said that nothing could have saved the child. Yugi hadn't been sure if he was glad he lost the child or not, but now, he knew it was both. He was glad not to have to deal with having a child through rape and upset that he had lost his child. No matter what, the child was his.

"Yugi, why haven't you told him?" Dr. Grey asked.

"I'm scared to." Yugi admitted.

"Nothing will change, Yugi." Dr. Grey said.

"I want to believe that." Yugi said.

"Yami seems to have been very understanding, and I think he would understand this, but the choice is yours, Yugi." Dr. Grey said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"Now, have you made any progress with your other friends?" Dr. Grey asked.

"No. I haven't been willing to." Yugi admitted.

"You should try. If you just try with one or tow of them at time, you need to try." Dr. Grey said.

"Okay." Yugi said.

* * *

After the talk with Dr. Grey, Yugi had gone back to Ryou's house.

The whole way home, Yugi had been thinking about what had been said in Dr. Grey's office.

'I know that Yami would understand, but I'm still scared.' Yugi thought.

Yugi had no idea how Yami would react to the knowledge that he had gotten pregnant through the rape. It didn't matter that he had lost the child.

Finally, Yugi went downstairs to find Ryou there. "Ry, can I talk to you?" Yugi asked.

Ryou looked up and smiled. "Sure thing, Yugi." Ryou said. He marked his place in his book and set the book down on the table. "What's on your mind?" Ryou asked.

"Well, Dr. Grey and I got to talking about Yami in my session today." Yugi said.

It was a well-known fact to Ryou that Yami was a topic often in session.

"And?" Ryou prodded, knowing that there was more to it.

"Well, Yami doesn't know about the-pregnancy, and Dr. Grey thinks I should tell him. What do you think?" Yugi asked.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Ryou asked.

Yugi hesitated. "I want him to know, but I'm scared of how he will react." Yugi said.

"Yami won't react the way you think. If he's angry, he will be angry at the fact it was because of rape." Ryou said.

"I'm just not sure." Yugi said.

"What's the worst?" Ryou asked.

"That Yami could be disgusted with me." Yugi said.

Ryou shook his head. "That won't happen, Yugi." Ryou said.

Yugi looked up.

"Yugi, Yami will understand. It may shock him, but I think that this is a conversation you need to have with him." Ryou said.

"It is?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, you said you're starting to trust Yami again, right?" Ryou asked.

"Yes." Yugi said.

"Then trust him with this secret. He will keep it." Ryou said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Ry. I still don't know, but thanks." Yugi said.

"Any time, Yugi." Ryou said.

* * *

It hadn't taken Yugi long to make up his mind.

It was still daylight, so Yugi walked to the Game Shop.

"Yugi! What are you doing here?" Yami asked, surprised. He hadn't been expecting Yugi come then.

Yugi smiled. "The house belongs to my family, Yami." Yugi said.

"Oh. Right." Yami said.

Yami had been embarrassed because he was sitting in the living in his boxers and a T-shirt because of the fact that he was alone. It was late evening, and Atemu and Heba wouldn't be back from their date for a while.

"Yami, I've seen you in your boxers before." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "Yami, there's-there's something important that I need to tell you. Before I lose my nerve." Yugi said.

Yami could easily see that Yugi was really uneasy about this and wondered why. "Go ahead, Yugi." Yami said.

Yugi started pacing slightly. "It's just-I don't know how you'll react." Yugi said.

Yami stood up and caught Yugi gently by his wrist. "Yugi, whatever it is, I will understand." Yami said gently.

Yugi looked up and gulped. "I-I hope you're right." Yugi siad shakily.

Yami waited for Yugi to tell him.

"Yami, the truth is that I-I can have children, even though I'm male." Yugi said.

Yami starred at Yugi for a moment. "What?" Yami asked, not sure he understood.

Yugi sighed. "Yami, I can get pregnant. I can have kids." Yugi said.

"But how?" Yami asked.

"Ishizu said all Hikaris have that ability if they're male." Yugi said.

"Oh." Yami said. He shook his head. "What's so upsetting about that?" Yami asked.

"That's not the upsetting part." Yugi said.

Yami frowned. "I don't-" Yami started, and then stopped. It didn't take long for him to figure out why this would upset Yugi. "The rape." Yami whispered.

Yugi's eyes answered the question.

"You got pregnant from it." Yami said.

Yugi nodded.

"Oh. Yugi." Yami said.

"I-I wasn't sure if I should tell. I wasn't sure how you would react." Yugi said.

"Why would I get upset?" Yami asked.

"Well, it's just that-I thought you might get upset with me ad be disgusted with me. I mean-" Yugi started rambling.

Yami put a finger over Yugi's mouth. "Yugi, stop." Yami said.

Yugi looked slightly afraid.

"Yugi, nothing could make me disgusted with you, certainly not this. And if you think I'm disgusted with you because of the rape, stop thinking that. I could not feel that. If anyone, I'm disgusted with those men for doing it and with myself for letting it happen." Yami said.

"But you didn't-" Yugi started.

"I could have known if I hadn't had the link shut." Yami said.

"Yami, please. You couldn't have stopped it entirely." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "I know." Yami said. He thought a moment before he realized something. 'If Yugi got pregnant from the rape, then he should still be pregnant.' Yami thought.

"Yami, what is it?" Yugi asked.

"What happened? To the baby, I mean?" Yami asked.

"Oh. I found out I was pregnant after my suicide attempt." Yugi siad.

Yami mentally grimaced since he knew that happened when he had ignored Yugi trying to tell him what happened for a month.

"The doctors told me then. I about went crazy. I'm surprised that Marik, Bakura, Malik, Ryou, and Atemu didn't go insane with the way I acted. I wasn't sure what to do. After a month, I ended up losing the baby. The doctors said there was nothing anyone could do." Yugi said.

"Oh." Yami said.

"I feel guilty now." Yugi said, sitting down.

"Why?" Yami asked, sitting down beside him.

"I wasn't sure if I was glad or sad then. I know now I was glad because I wasn't sure I could handle having a child because of rape, but I was also sad because it was my child." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "The thought still upsets me some." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I don't blame you." Yami said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

"And you don't have to be afraid to tell me anything, Yugi. I understand. It's not like you had a choice." Yami said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

The door opened, and Atemu and Heba walked in.

"Hey, Yugi! What are you doing here?" Heba asked.

"I came over to talk to Yami. I told him about the baby." Yugi said.

"Oh." Atemu said, understanding.

"You okay?" Heba asked, looking at Yugi.

"I'm fine." Yugi said.

"And you?" Atemu asked.

"I'm fine, too, Atemu." Yami said.

Yugi glanced outside. "It's rather late. I might need to stay here the night." Yugi said.

Heba's eyes lit up. "Sure! Thankfully, you have a queen-sized bed, so we can share it." Heba said.

"Okay. Let me call Bakura. We all know that Bakura and Marik will go on a rampage looking for me if I don't come home." Yugi said.

The four laughed.

Yugi and Heba left the room.

Atemu looked over at Yami. "Are you really okay?" Atemu asked.

"Yeah. It's a shock, but there's nothing I can do." Yami siad. He looked over and said, "You and Heba had better be careful, or you two will be parents."

Atemu rolled his eyes. "Talk to Bakura and Marik. I'm not having sex yet." Atemu said.

Yami nodded.

"Yami, you and Yugi are doing better." Atemu said.

Yami looked at him oddly.

"That's a major secret with Yugi. For him to tell you, it means that he does trust you some." Atemu said.

Yami was surprised.

"Just don't screw it up." Atemu said.

"I won't." Yami said.

Yami was glad that he was starting to earn some of Yugi's trust back.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I don't know why I decided to add in the mpreg part, but I did, so there will probably be more preg later on in the story.

Next: The gods make their decision regarding Yami.

R&R.


	25. The gods' Decision

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 25- The gods' Decision

~Realm of the gods~

"Are you certain?" Hathor asked.

"Yes. We decided to wait and see how Pharaoh Yami acted after Yugi was saved, and we have. Yugi is obviously starting to recover, so now is the time for us to tell Pharaoh Yami our decision." Ra answered, looking at all the other gods and goddesses around him.

"Has your decision changed?" Osiris asked.

"That has yet to be decided." Ra replied.

The other gods and goddesses looked surprised. They had all assumed that Ra had already made his decision on what he would do.

"I'm afraid that you have lost us. We thought you would have already known what you would do." Anubis said.

"On some level, I have. However, there is one other thing that I must do before I make that final decision. I will know for certain what will happen to him by the time we call him here." Ra said.

"And what is it that you feel that you must do before you call him here?" Ma'at asked, knowing that Ra would act soon.

"I must speak with the one who was most affected by what has happened. I must speak with Yugi." Ra said.

The others looked at him in shocked.

"Why Yugi?" Horus asked.

"Yugi is the one that all this happened to, and he is the one that was affected the most by the way Pharaoh Yami acted." Ra said.

The other gods had forgotten that he wanted to talk to Yugi first.

"So, your final decision will be based on what Yugi wants." Isis said knowingly.

"Naturally." Ra said.

"It is a good idea, and not even Pharaoh Yami would attempt to protest any decision that was based on what the Hikari truly wanted." Osiris said, understanding.

"That is correct." Ra said.

"And when will you speak with Yugi?" Ma'at asked.

"Very soon." Ra answered.

* * *

"I cannot believe the amount of homework we have." Yami said, glancing at all the homework he had to get done.

"Yami, it's the end of the year. Of course they're going to throw all this at us. Just think. Next year will be even harder." Yugi said.

Yami groaned. "Please don't remind me. I don't even want to think about all the work that I'll have to do as a senior." Yami said.

Yugi shrugged.

The two had gone back to the Game Shop since Malik and Ryou were going to try and tutor Bakura and Marik in everything so that they didn't fail, and Atemu and Heba had decided to go to the library to do some studying themselves.

"You know, Atemu and Heba aren't being as discreet as they think they are." Yugi said.

Yami looked at Yugi. "Meaning?" Yami asked.

"Well, I can easily tell that the reason they decided to go to the library instead of coming here was because they want us to spend time alone together." Yugi said.

"Well, they think that we do need to spend some time together." Yami said.

"Yeah. I know. They want things to get better between us, which they have." Yugi said.

"Yeah. You're not trying to kill me now." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Yeah. That's true." Yugi agreed.

Yami and Yugi had had a really serious talk about everything that had happened during the time that Yugi had been out of control due to the Shadow magic, and they had talked out everything about it. Now, the two could joke around about it.

"I don't know why they think they have to try and trick us into spending time together." Yami said.

"Well, it's not such a bad thing, Yami. I think that it's a good thing." Yugi said.

"So do I." Yami said.

"In any case, we need to get all this homework done." Yugi said.

Yami groaned. "You had to remind me." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Come on, Yami. The sooner we get it done, the better off we'll be." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami agreed.

The two then started to work on their homework.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"I think that Pharaoh Yami and Yugi are much closer than we originally thought." Horus said.

"Indeed. To joke with something that was at one time so serious is truly a feat in itself." Isis said.

"Pharaoh Yami has done a great deal to try and make things right with Yugi. I will admit that, but that does not mean that we let this go." Ra said.

"None of us want that. We just feel that perhaps he has redeemed himself on some level." Hathor pointed out.

"Perhaps, but we will need to speak with Yugi before any such decision is made." Ra said.

"Perhaps tonight would be a good time for all this to take place." Ma'at suggested.

"Hmm. You may be right." Ra said.

* * *

Yugi and Yami had finished their homework in two hours, and the two decided to watch some TV.

"Well, it doesn't look like there's much on." Yami said.

"I noticed." Yugi said.

Yami flipped through every channel before he got sick of it and turned off the TV.

"Well, what now?" Yugi asked.

Yami glanced over at his Hikari and said, "Yugi, there's something I want to talk to you about, and I don't want you to get upset over it."

"Okay." Yugi said, wondering what Yami wanted to talk about.

"Okay. I just wanted to know if you planned on trying to talk to Joey and the others any time soon." Yami said.

"I-don't-know." Yugi said slowly.

"I'm not trying to pressure you into talking to them Yugi. I just wanted to know." Yami said.

"I take it that they've said something to you, and that's why you decided to talk to me about it." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "Yeah. They are really sorry for what happened Yugi, and I wanted you to just think about it." Yami said.

"Well, I do want to talk to them, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready." Yugi said.

"Well, take it slow, Yugi. One or two at a time. When you're ready." Yami said.

"Maybe you're right." Yugi said.

"Again, do it when you're ready." Yami said.

Yugi smiled at him. "I will Yami. The truth is that I talked to you when I was ready, but I do need to talk to the others. Dr. Grey has been telling me the same thing, and I know that I need to." Yugi said.

"Yugi, just start with whoever you feel the most comfortable with." Yami said.

Yugi tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I've honestly thought about Joey." Yugi said.

"Joey?" Yami asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Why?" Yugi asked, wondering what it was about Joey that made Yami seem so surprised.

"Well, it's just that you and Tea have been friends since childhood. I honestly thought that you would have wanted to talk with her first." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Yeah. Maybe. Tea and I might have been friends since childhood, but the truth is that Joey's the best friend I had. At least before you. I really miss having Joey around. And I suppose I'll talk to Seto, too." Yugi said.

"You would take Mr. Stone Cold over the others?" Yami asked.

"Joey and Seto are a package deal, right?" Yugi asked.

Yami laughed. "Yeah. I suppose so." Yami agreed.

"I'll talk to them. I just don't know when, so don't mention this to them." Yugi said.

"Hey. I'm the messenger here. I'll tell them when you tell me to." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Thanks, Yami." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Yami agreed.

* * *

~That Night~

Yugi was sitting in his room at Ryou's house. He was thinking about Yami and how much things had changed between the two of them in such a short time.

'I know that Yami is really sorry for all that happened, but I can also tell that he's not doing everything he is for me out of guilt. He's doing it because it's what he wants. He really wants us to rebuild our friendship, and I want that, too.' Yugi thought.

Yugi got off the bed and pulled out a photo album that he had taken with him to the house and sat back down on the bed, starting to flip through it.

The album was filled with pictures from before everyone had started ignoring him.

'I do miss the others, and Yami's right. I need to start trying to talk to them. I need to rebuild those friendships, too.' Yugi thought.

Yugi smiled as he looked through the photo album and started to remember those times.

Yugi let out a sigh and closed the book. 'I don't know what I would do without Yami. I'm not sure that I could handle something like that.' Yugi thought.

Yugi didn't notice the bright flash of light that had flashed in the room

"Yugi?" an ethereal voice said.

Yugi jumped at the sudden, unfamiliar voice and turned around quickly to be face-to-face with Ma'at.

Ma'at smiled gently at Yugi.

It did little to calm Yugi. He backed up until he was at the headboard of his bed. "W-w-who ar-are y-you?" Yugi asked, his voice trembling.

Ma'at sighed. "I told Ra that this was a bad idea." Ma'at muttered to herself although Yugi heard what she said.

Yugi blinked. "Ra? As in the god from ancient Egypt?" Yugi asked.

Ma'at smiled. "I'm glad to see that you do know us through your knowledge of ancient Egypt and Pharaoh Yami. Yes, that is who I am referring to. I am the goddess Ma'at." Ma'at said.

"Ma'at? The goddess of truth, right, and orderly conduct, right?" Yugi asked.

"Indeed. You do know a great deal about us." Ma'at said.

"I learned." Yugi said.

"Well, I need you to come with me, Yugi." Ma'at said.

"Where?" Yugi asked, a little uneasy,

Ma'at smiled at Yugi. "Ra wishes to speak with you. I simply want you to come with me to the realm of the gods so that Ra can speak to you." Ma'at said.

"Why does he want to talk to me?" Yugi asked.

"That is for him to tell you." Ma'at answered.

Yugi thought a moment before he figured that he had better do what they told him to do. "Okay. I'll come." Yugi said.

Ma'at stretched out her arm, and Yugi took her hand. The two then vanished from the room.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Hathor, and Anubis were all waiting for when Ma'at returned to their realm with Yugi.

"So, how are you going to go about it?" Osiris asked.

"An honest way. I will handle this. All any of you need to do is watch and listen." Ra said.

The others nodded. They knew that what happened to Yami would depend largely on what Yugi said during this time.

A moment later, Ma'at appeared with Yugi.

Yugi looked frightened with all the gods and goddesses that were there. He had thought that Ra would be the only one that would be there. He didn't realize that there would be six of them waiting for him.

"You do not need to be afraid, Yugi. No harm will come to you here." Ra assured him.

"I-I was t-told you w-wanted to speak with m-me." Yugi said, his voice a little shaky.

"He's frightened." Isis said.

"Of course he is." Anubis muttered.

"We have no intention of hurting you, Yugi. I simply wish for us to talk." Ra assured him.

"All right." Yugi said.

Ma'at went and joined the other gods and goddesses.

Ra walked forward a little bit. "Yugi, I wish to talk to you about Pharaoh Yami." Ra said.

"Yami? Why?" Yugi asked, a little surprised that this was about Yami.

"About everything that has happened over the last eleven months." Ra said.

"I don't understand. What does what happened have to do with you?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, we were the ones who granted Pharaoh Yami, Prince Atemu, Bakura, and Marik the bodies that they have now. They are still under our jurisdiction. Also, we govern the relationships of the Yamis and Hikaris. It is our duty to ensure that the Yamis are doing their duty as far as protecting their Hikaris goes. The four Yamis you know are of special interest to us for the simple fact that they are under our jurisdiction." Ra said.

Yugi wasn't sure that he liked the way this was going.

"Yugi, you must understand that it is our duty to punish Yamis who don't do their duty." Ra said.

"Then Yami-" Yugi started.

"We have done nothing to him yet. However, we cannot let the actions that he has taken go." Ra said.

"Yami has tried to make up for everything he's done." Yugi said.

"Yes. I know. However, you had to know." Ra said.

"There's more." Yugi said.

"Yes. Yugi, you needed to know what we decided." Ra said.

Yugi wasn't sure what he would hear, but he knew that he wasn't going to like it.

"We have considered taking Pharaoh Yami's new life from him and ending the link you two have." Ra said.

Yugi's eyes widened at that.

"We feel that perhaps he is more of a threat to you than anything." Ra said.

"NO!" Yugi said.

All of the gods were shocked by the sudden shout from Yugi.

"No! You can't do that! You can't take Yami from me!" Yugi said.

Ra had to take a step back. He had not expected Yugi to react in such a way.

"I can't lose Yami! I just can't! I don't want to go through that again! I couldn't handle it!" Yugi said.

Yugi was having an emotional breakdown.

Isis, unable to bear watching Yugi, went forward and hugged him. "Calm down, Yugi. It will be fine." Isis said in a soothing manner as she rubbed Yugi's back gently.

Yugi had started to cry and was trying to calm himself down.

"You do not wish to lose Pharaoh Yami." Ra asked.

"No. I don't want to lose him again." Yugi said.

"Why?" Ra asked.

"I just, it's because I love him." Yugi said.

The gods became silent as they heard that.

It shouldn't have been such a surprise since a Yami and a Hikari were meant to be together, but none of them believed that he could bear such strong emotions for Yami after all that had happened.

"You love him, Yugi?" Isis asked.

Yugi nodded.

"Despite all that he has done to you?" Ra asked.

"I can't imagine loving anyone else. I know that the chances of ever having a relationship with him are slim, and I know that he probably doesn't feel the same or will ever feel the same, but I do know that I wouldn't be able to live without him. I can't imagine Yami not in my life, and I don't ever want to have to imagine that." Yugi said.

Ra watched and saw the truth. He saw that taking Yami from Yugi would do more harm than good.

And he could not bring harm to him.

"Thank you, Yugi. You have helped me to know what to do now." Ra said.

Yugi looked at him.

"Ma'at, return him home." Ra said.

Ma'at went over to Yugi and took him from Isis before vanishing from him.

"Well, we can't go with the original punishment." Anubis said.

"What should we do?" Osiris asked.

"What I had already decided would be the alternative should this be what Yugi chose." Ra said.

"You know already?" Hathor asked.

"Yes. Once Ma'at returns, Pharaoh Yami will know as well." Ra said.

* * *

Yami, Atemu, Bakura, Marik, and Seto were all shocked when they were suddenly spirited away from their beds, but they immediately dropped to their knees once they saw that they were in the presence of the Egyptian gods.

'This is it. Now I'll know what they plan to do to me.' Yami thought. His heart broke at the thought of being forced apart from his Hikari, but he knew that if the gods did that that he deserved it, and he also knew that Yugi would be okay because the gods would not force them apart if it would only hurt Yugi in the long-run.

"Pharaoh Yami, I believe that you know why you are here now." Ra said in an authoritative tone of voice.

"Yes, Lord Ra." Yami said. He feared what would happen, but he knew that he had brought it on himself.

"Rise." Ra said.

All of them got to their feet, but none of them looked up.

Even Atemu, Bakura, Marik, and Seto were concerned with what the gods had decided. They didn't want Yami to die, but they knew that they couldn't stop the gods. They could only hope that whatever the gods decided would not end up hurting Yugi. They knew that Yugi had gone through enough with all that he had had to deal with.

"Pharaoh Yami, your actions in regard to your Hikari are inexcusable. No Hikari should be forced to live with the type of pain that was imposed on your Hikari." Ra said.

Yami nodded, knowing he was right.

"However, your reactions to everything have gone in your favor. You never tried to deny what you did, and you never attempted to excuse it. You then fought to save your Hikari from himself when he has your Shadow magic. You went as far as to go and face Yugi, knowing that it could have ended your life." Ra said.

"I had no choice. I was the only way to save Yugi, and it wouldn't have mattered if it had cost me my life. Saving Yugi would have been worth dying." Yami said.

"Yes. Your actions proved that." Hathor said.

"You also gave Yugi the space that he needed after he was released from the power of the Shadow magic. As much as you wanted to see him, you looked past what you wanted and did what was best for him, which was staying away." Osiris said.

"Then you took things in stride when Yugi wanted to talk to you, and you were there to protect him when those men returned and you aided in getting rid of them." Anubis said.

"In the last few weeks, you have started to rebuild your relationship with Yugi, and it is clear that you have only focused on your Hikari, and you never did any of it in order to gain our favor." Ma'at said.

"Yugi was more important. Whatever you have decided to do is what I deserve." Yami said.

"Indeed." Ra said.

The room became silent for quite some time.

Yami was getting quite nervous as were the others.

"Our original decision had been to take away the life we have given you and severe the connection between you and Yugi so that he did not suffer from this. When we first brought you here, that was what we were going to do." Ra said.

Yami now knew it was over.

"However, your actions since then have caused a change." Horus said.

Yami, for the first time, looked up.

"For the next year, we will watch you and your Hikari closely. If in that year you have proven that you were not careless with your Hikari as before, we will do nothing. Consider this a sort of probationary period." Ra said.

"Then I can stay with Yugi?" Yami asked.

"For now. Should you, for any reason, hurt Yugi as you did before, I can assure you that your punishment will be much worse than what we would have done now." Ra said.

Yami nodded. "Thank you." Yami said.

"It is not us you should thank. It is your Hikari." Ra said.

"Yugi?" all five Yamis said.

"Yes. I brought Yugi here to tell him what was going on. He needed to know, and I was planning on separating you even then, but it was his reaction that stopped me. Yugi truly needs you to stay with him. He can't handle losing you. That is why we changed our minds. It is your Hikari you owe everything to, not us." Ra said.

"Thank you. I assure you that I will not mess up." Yami said.

"We will be watching you closely, Pharaoh Yami. And you will know what we think when this year is up." Ra said.

Yami nodded, thankful that he would still be with Yugi.

Atemu then realized something. "Lord Ra, may I ask a question?" Atemu asked.

"Certainly, Prince Atemu." Ra said.

"What will happen to us all?" Atemu asked.

The other Yamis looked at Atemu.

"We broke the rules by using our Shadow magic on the men who raped Yugi." Atemu said.

Now the Yamis knew and were frightened.

Ra chuckled. "Nothing. We decided that what you did was in defense of a Hikari since they would surely have gone after Yugi again, so consider this a free pass, but don't get used to it." Ra said.

"Thank you." all five said.

"And we did enjoy it." Anubis said.

"Now go and remember that we will see you in a year." Ra said.

The five then vanished.

* * *

The following morning, Yami had planned to go see Yugi, but Yugi had come over to the Game Shop first thing.

The first thing Yugi did when he saw Yami was hug him tightly.

"Oh, Yami! I wasn't sure that I would see you again!" Yugi said.

Yami hugged Yugi back. "It's okay, Yugi. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." Yami said, holding Yugi.

Yugi held onto him. "I wasn't sure if Ra would keep his promise." Yugi said.

Yami was surprised. "What did he tell you?" Yami asked.

Yugi looked up at Yami. "That he wouldn't force us apart." Yugi said.

"He's not. I'm sort of on probation." Yami said as they sat down in the living room.

"Probation?" Yugi asked.

"Yes. For the next year, they are going to watch me and you closely. If I screw up big with you again, I'm done for." Yami said.

"And if you don't?" Yugi asked.

"I suppose I'll stay." Yami said.

"You won't mess up." Yugi said.

"I don't intend to." Yami said.

"I was worried all night." Yugi said.

"You could have called me." Yami said.

"I know, but I wasn't sure if I should. I was scared of what I would find out." Yugi said.

Yami smiled and placed a hand on Yugi's cheek. "You don't have anything to worry about, Aibou. I'm not going anywhere." Yami said.

Yugi looked a little surprised. "That's the first time you've called me that in a long time." Yugi said.

"Oh." Yami said. He wondered if Yugi was upset by it.

"I've missed being called that. I missed all the nicknames you gave me." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "You don't have anything to worry about, Yugi. I'll start calling you those names again if you want me to, and I am not going anywhere." Yami said.

"Thanks, Yami. I don't think that I could handle that." Yugi said.

"By the way, I owe you a big thanks." Yami said.

Yugi blinked. "Why?" Yugi asked.

"Because Ra told me that the only reason he decided not to separate us was because of your reaction." Yami said.

"It was?" Yugi asked.

Yami nodded.

"I didn't know that." Yugi said.

"Yeah. And I don't plan on leaving any time soon, so you don't have t worry about it." Yami said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "I'll always be here for you, Aibou." Yami said.

Yugi smiled back. "Thanks." Yugi said.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yugi decided to move back into the Game Shop, and he talks with Seto and Joey.

R&R.


	26. Relocation and Reconnection

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 26- Relocation and Reconnection

It had been a week since the gods had announced their judgment to Yami.

During that week, Yugi and Yami had been spending a great deal of time together. The fact that the gods had considered separating them had made the two realize how lucky they were to have each other, and they made sure to spend a lot of time together just to reassure themselves that they were still together.

Atemu, Heba, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik were glad that things had worked out for Yugi and Yami. They were hoping that the two would remain strong in their newfound relationship.

However, Yugi still had not made a definite decision on when he would start trying to reestablish relationships with Joey, Seto, Serenity, Mokuba, Tea, and Tristan.

* * *

Yugi was sitting in his room in Ryou's house. He had been doing a lot of thinking, and he had finally came to a decision. He got up and headed downstairs, finding Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik in the living room.

"Hey, Yugi." Ryou said.

"Hey. Do you guys have a minute? I need to talk to you." Yugi said.

Bakura looked up from the game of chess he was playing with Malik. "Do I need to kill someone?" Bakura asked.

Yugi sighed. "No, Bakura. You're not going to need to kill someone." Yugi said.

"Damn!" Bakura said.

Ryou whacked Bakura in the back of his head with his book.

"OW!" Bakura exclaimed.

"I've already told you about having that sort of mindset, Bakura!" Ryou scolded.

Bakura cringed and shrank away.

Yugi bit his lip to stop from laughing. He always found it funny that Ryou could make the infamous Thief King tremble in fear.

Marik and Malik didn't stop the laughter.

"Shut up!" Bakura snapped, glaring at them.

"Why? It's funny." Marik said.

Ryou groaned before he set his book aside. "What's on your mind, Yugi?" Ryou asked.

"Well, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I've come to a decision." Yugi said.

"What's that?" Bakura asked.

"I'm going to move back into the Game Shop." Yugi said.

All four looked up, their full attention on Yugi.

"Why, Yugi?" Marik asked.

"It's not that I don't like living here. I do. It's just that I think I need to go home now. I really do miss living there." Yugi said.

"You sure?" Bakura asked.

"Bakura, I know that you're worried about me moving back because of Yami, but he's not a threat to me, and he's not going to do what he did before. I know that." Yugi said.

"I just worry." Bakura said.

"I know. I really do want to go back home, though. I miss it, and I think that now is the right time." Yugi said.

"As long as no one has pressure you into this." Malik said.

Yugi smiled as he sat down on the couch. "No one has, Malik. I did tell Atemu I had been thinking about it, but he kept his word to me about not telling anyone. Yami and Heba don't even know that I have considered moving back, and Atemu hasn't mentioned it again to me." Yugi said.

"Well, I guess you had better tell them." Ryou said.

"I will." Yugi said. He looked at all four. "Look. I really want to thank you. You guys were there for me in my worst time, and I don't know if you'll ever know how grateful I am." Yugi said.

"You don't have to thank us, shrimp." Bakura said.

"Yeah. We're friends, and we'd do it again in a heartbeat." Marik said.

"In any case, I am grateful to you. When I needed someone, you guys were there for me, before and after the rape. And I can't thank you enough for letting me live here as long as you have." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you're always welcome here, and just because you're moving out doesn't mean that you can't come by." Ryou said.

"I know, and I appreciate that. I really don't know that I would have made it through all this without you guys." Yugi said.

"And we were glad to help." Bakura said.

"I really do appreciate it, and I'll always be grateful to you for all that you did for me. I won't forget it." Yugi said.

All four smiled at Yugi.

"Like we said, glad to do it." Bakura said.

"When will you move back?" Malik asked.

"As soon as I tell Yami, Atemu, and Heba that I'm moving back." Yugi said.

"Why so soon?" Marik asked.

"Well, Grandpa is due back from that excavation in three weeks, and I really want to be back by then." Yugi said.

"Are you telling him anything?" Ryou asked softly.

Yugi gave him a sad smile. "Yeah. I'll tell him everything; start to finish. I'm not going to hide anything from Grandpa. He needs to know." Yugi said.

"Well, if you need us when you tell him, just let us know." Bakura said.

"I will." Yugi said.

* * *

Yami, Atemu, and Heba hadn't expected Yugi to show up that day.

"Hey, Yugi. What are you doing here?" Heba asked.

"What? I can't come back to my home?" Yugi asked.

"Of course you can! I'm just kind of surprised." Heba said.

Yugi smiled. "Well, I came over to tell you something." Yugi said.

"What's that?" Yami asked. He was worried that he might have done something to upset Yugi. It was something that always worried him. He didn't want to upset Yugi for any reason. He also worried that he would find out something else bad that had happened to Yugi during the time that he hadn't paid any attention to his Hikari.

"Well, I was thinking of moving back." Yugi said.

"You are?" all three said.

Yugi nodded. "I really hope you don't mind." Yugi said.

"Of course not!" Heba said, hugging his brother tightly. "I can't believe that you're going to be moving back! That's great!" Heba said.

Yugi winced. "Heba! Air!" Yugi gasped. He couldn't breathe from how tightly Heba was hugging him.

"Sorry." Heba said, letting go.

"So, you finally decided to come back." Atemu said.

"Yeah. I figure that I need to come back. Besides, I miss home." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "Well, you know that you can come back. It is your home, and we would all love for you to be back." Yami said.

"Yeah. You can have your room back." Heba said.

"What about you?" Yugi asked. He had known that Heba had been staying in his room since Heba had decided to stay there.

Heba blushed.

Yami rolled his eyes. "Two weeks ago, Heba moved into Atemu's room, so they're sleeping in the same room." Yami said.

"It's not like we're having sex." Heba muttered.

Yami shrugged. "I was just explaining what you meant to Yugi." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Well, I wouldn't have minded sharing my room with you." Yugi said.

"It doesn't matter." Heba said.

"When are you moving back?" Atemu asked.

"As soon as possible. I want to be moved back in and settled before Grandpa gets home." Yugi said.

"Well, we'll be glad to help you move." Atemu said.

"Thanks. I don't have too, too much stuff there, but I could use the help." Yugi said.

"Um, Yugi. Are you going to tell Grandpa what's been going on?" Heba asked.

"Yeah. I am. I'm going to tell him everything." Yugi said. He looked over at Yami. "Sorry, but I can't leave anything out." Yugi said.

Yami shook his head. "You don't have to apologize to me, Yugi. Whatever Grandpa does to me is nothing more than what I deserve." Yami said.

"Well, it'll be good for him to know what's been happening." Atemu said.

"Yeah. I know." Yugi said.

"So, should we get you moved back in?" Heba asked.

Yugi looked over at his brother. "You want me back here, don't you?" Yugi asked.

"Yes." Heba said.

"Come on. We can go ahead and start moving stuff." Yugi said.

* * *

In a few days, they had all of Yugi's stuff back at the Game Shop.

Yugi stood in his room, looking around. 'I had more stuff than I thought.' Yugi thought.

"You okay?" Yami asked.

Yugi turned to look at his Yami. "Yeah. I just didn't realize that I did have this much stuff there." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "Well, you were there for a few months, so you were bound to accumulate more stuff." Yami said.

"Yeah. I guess so." Yugi agreed.

"I can help out." Yami said.

"Thanks. I'll need it." Yugi said.

"Atemu and Heba ducked out. Said they were going out on a date." Yami said.

"Meaning that they didn't want to have to help with this." Yugi said.

"Probably." Yami said.

"Well, we might as well get started." Yugi said.

The two started to unpack the boxes. Most of it was clothes.

"Did you go on a shopping spree?" Yami asked, a little surprised.

"Ryou took me on a few of them. He tried to get my mind off of things with them." Yugi said.

"Did it work?" Yami asked.

"Sometimes." Yugi admitted.

"Well, that's good." Yami said.

The only other things that Yugi had were the photo albums that he had been collecting, a few other trinkets, and the journal he had been writing in.

"I didn't know you kept a journal." Yami said.

Yugi rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. It was Dr. Grey's idea." Yugi said.

"It was?" Yami asked, handing the journal to Yugi.

"Yeah. When I first starting seeing her, she suggested that I start keeping a journal. When I got angry upset, scared, or anything, she told me to write in the journal. It could be because of the rape or anything else. It was just an easier way to let out my emotions. It helped me a lot." Yugi said.

"Really?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded. "It's probably one of the reasons that I am starting to recover from everything that happened." Yugi said.

"That's a good thing." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi replied.

The two soon had Yugi's room straightened up.

* * *

Yugi had been living back in the Game Shop for a week, and it was good for him. He was happy to be home.

Currently, it was Thursday night, and there was no school the next day.

Yugi sat at his desk in his room. He had been given homework, and he was trying to do it, but he was having trouble concentrating.

Yugi starred at the picture that was sitting on his desk before he finally picked it up and looked at it.

The picture was of the entire group minus Heba since he hasn't been there at the time.

'I know that I'm starting to forgive Yami, and that I do have trust in him, but it's not enough. I need to start talking to the others.' Yugi thought.

Yugi finally picked up his cell phone and went through his contact list until he found the name that he had been looking for.

Joey's.

Yugi really did miss having Joey around, and he wanted to have his best friend, next to Yami, back in his life. He already knew that Seto would come with Joey, and he figured that he would be able to handle Seto then, too.

Yugi just stared at the name on his contacts list before he finally made the decision and pressed the send button.

* * *

Joey had been laying on his Seto's bed. He had homework that he needed to do, but he would wait and do it later.

Seto was in his office doing some work for the company, and he wouldn't be coming to bed for a while.

'I hate when Seto has to work at night. He never comes to bed before midnight.' Joey thought dejectedly.

Joey's cell phone rang then.

Joey reached over and picked up the cell phone before answering it without looking at who it was. "Hello?" Joey said, glad to be able to talk to someone.

"_Joey?_" Yugi said.

Joey was shocked. He had spoken to Yugi in a long time, and he was shocked at hearing his best friend's voice.

"_Um, Joey? Are you there?_" Yugi asked.

Joey snapped out of it. "Yeah! I'm here, Yugi!" Joey said.

"_Joey, you don't have to shout. I can hear you just fine._" Yugi said.

"Oh. Sorry." Joey said. He smiled. "I was just surprised that you called me is all." Joey said.

"_Yeah. I guess I haven't exactly kept in touch with you in recent days. Sorry about that._" Yugi said.

"You don't have to apologize, Yugi. I understand." Joey said.

"_Look, Joey. I was calling because I wanted to ask you something._" Yugi said.

"Sure. What is it?" Joey asked.

"_Well, do you think that you and Seto could come over to the Game Shop tomorrow?_" Yugi asked.

"If you want us to, we will." Joey said.

"_Thanks. I really want to talk to you._" Yugi said.

"Sure, Yugi. What time do you want us to come over?" Joey asked.

"_Is ten too early_?" Yugi asked.

"Nah. We'll be there." Joey said.

"_Okay, Joey. Thanks._" Yugi said.

"No problem." Joey said.

"_I'll see you tomorrow, Joey." _Yugi said.

"Okay. Bye." Joey said before he hung up. He then jumped up, dashed out of the bedroom, and ran down the hall to Seto's office.

Seto was startled when Joey suddenly came barging into his office. "Joey! What are you doing?" Seto demanded. He then noticed the way Joey's eyes were sparkling and wondered what had gotten him so excited.

"Seto, I just got a call from Yugi. He wants you and I to come over to the Game Shop tomorrow. He wants to talk to us." Joey said.

"Are you sure?" Seto asked. He was shocked. He hadn't thought that Yugi would want to talk to them ever again.

"Yeah. He just called me. Seto, I can't believe this." Joey said, obviously happy.

Seto smiled. "Neither can I, but I'm glad that he did call." Seto said.

"So am I." Joey admitted.

"What time do we need to be there?" Seto asked.

"He said ten. I can't wait to talk to him, Seto." Joey said.

"Neither can I." Seto said. And he meant it.

* * *

The following morning, Yugi ate breakfast with Atemu and Heba.

"So, any plans today?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. We're going to go out today." Heba said.

"Where?" Yugi asked.

"We haven't figured that out yet. We'll decide what we're going to do while we're out." Atemu answered.

"Well, have fun." Yami said.

"We always do when we're together." Atemu said.

"What about you two? Do you plan on doing anything, or are you spending the whole day indoors?" Heba asked.

"I don't have a clue. I guess we'll figure that out later." Yami said.

"Un, actually, I do have plans." Yugi said.

All three looked at Yugi in shock.

"What do you have planned?" Yami asked.

"Well, I called Joey last night, and I asked him and Seto to come over this morning so that I could talk to them." Yugi said.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Heba asked.

"Well, the truth is that it was a last-minute decision. I called Joey and asked them to come over before I lost my nerve. I need to start rebuilding my other friendships, so I decided to start with Joey and Seto." Yugi said.

"Do you need us to stay? I know that Seto can be kind of intimidating at times." Atemu said.

Yugi laughed. "You don't need to worry, Atemu. I've gotten over me fear of Seto. He doesn't intimidate me anymore." Yugi said.

Heba started to say something.

"Heba, you and Atemu already made plans to go out today. I don't want you to change them because of me. You two need to get out and just be together. You are dating, so you need to spend time alone. Besides, Yami is going to be here." Yugi said.

"Yeah. I am." Yami agreed.

"Well, okay." Heba said.

It wasn't long before Atemu and Heba left.

Yugi and Yami washed up the dishes that they had used.

"Yugi, are you sure that you're ready for this?" Yami asked.

"Yes, I am. I need to start reconnecting with the others. I just decided to start with Joey and Seto. I know that I need to do this, Yami." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "All right, Yugi. If that's what you want to do, I'm going to support you in this." Yami said.

"Thanks, Yami. That means a lot to me." Yugi said.

The two finished the dishes and put them away.

"So, when are Seto and Joey coming over?" Yami asked.

The doorbell rang.

Yugi looked at the clock. "They're a little early." Yugi said. He went and opened the door to find that Joey and Seto were on the doorstep.

"Hi, Yugi." Joey said, not wanting to be too forward.

"Hey. Come on in." Yugi said.

Seto and Joey walked into the house, and Yugi shut the door behind them.

"Hey, Joey. Seto." Yami said.

"Hey, Yams." Joey said.

"Sorry that we're early, Yugi. The puppy wouldn't shut up until we finally came on." Seto said.

Joey shot Seto a glare.

"It's the truth." Seto insisted.

Yugi smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind you being early." Yugi said.

Joey couldn't stand it anymore. "Yugi, listen. I'm really sorry about everything that I did. What I did was low, wrong, and uncalled for. I never meant to hurt you the way I did, but I know that I did that anyway. I'm not going to make any excuses. I don't have any. I just don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry." Joey said.

"Joey, I'm not going to lie and say that what happened didn't bother me. It really did. I didn't understand why it happened. I always thought it was something that I did." Yugi said.

"No! You never did anything to deserve it, Yugi. I was an idiot. That's all. I was an idiot, and I wasn't a very good friend to you when you needed it the most." Joey said.

"In any case, I've spent a lot of time trying to get my life back on track with what happened. As I'm sure you already know, Yami and I have become great friends again, and the truth is that I want all my friends back. It's just a process, so I'm going slowly. I decided I'd start with you guys." Yugi said.

Joey smiled widely. "Thanks, Yugi. You have no idea what this means to me." Joey said.

"Just what does that mean?" Seto asked.

"Well, I'm not going to automatically trust you again. I just can't do that. You'll have to earn it back." Yugi said.

"I understand, Yugi." Joey said.

Seto sighed. "Well, I'm not good at this, but I'm sorry, too. It wasn't right what happened, and I'm truly sorry for what happened." Seto said.

"I know, Seto. And I really did miss having you around as well." Yugi said.

"So, are you doing better?" Joey asked.

"Joey!" Yami and Seto said, thinking that he was going too fast.

Yugi smiled. "It's okay. It's an honest question." Yugi said. He then looked at Joey. "Yeah. I'm doing better than what I was. I've been seeing a psychiatrist to help me deal with what happened, and it's done wonders for me. I've gotten a lot of help from Dr. Grey. I'm starting to deal with it." Yugi said.

"That's good." Joey said.

Yugi sighed. "Listen. I do need to apologize to you two." Yugi said.

"For what?" Seto asked, surprised. He didn't know of anything that Yugi had to apologize for.

"For everything that I did when I had Yami's Shadow magic. I wasn't right in attacking you like I did and saying a lot of things that I said." Yugi said.

Joey walked over and placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder.

Yugi didn't flinch. He has gotten to where he wouldn't flinch away from a person if he knew who it was and he knew that they were going to touch him.

"Yugi, you don't have to apologize. The truth is that if that didn't happen, we might not have realized everything that we did or everything that you had been going through. At first, yeah, I was pissed, but once I knew the truth, I realized that I hadn't been a good friend to you at all. We were all fault with everything that you went through. So don't blame yourself." Joey said.

"Yes. You can't help what happened to you, Yugi. You can stop being angry with yourself for that. If anything, it opened our eyes to the truth. It was probably the only truth that we heard in a long time." Seto said.

"Okay." Yugi said.

"So, what now?" Joey asked.

"Well, as long as you're here, do you want to play a game?" Yugi asked.

Joey's eyes lit up again. "Sure! How about a racing game?" Joey asked.

"Okay. Playstation 3 or Xbox?" Yugi asked.

"Playstation 3." Joey said.

The two headed into the living room.

"So, he's getting better?" Seto asked.

"Yeah. He's getting a lot better." Yami said.

"At least you have that friendship back." Seto said, knowing that it had killed Yami that he had lost it.

"Not yet. I'm still earning back Yugi's trust." Yami said.

"You are?" Seto asked, surprised.

Yami nodded. "A lot of damage was done, but I'm slowly rebuilding that trust." Yami said.

"Then it'll take us a while." Seto said.

"Probably." Yami said.

"Well, given what we did, we need to earn it back. We can't just be given it automatically. That would be foolish." Seto said.

"I know. Right now, I'm taking what I can get. I'm not losing him again." Yami said.

Seto nodded. He somewhat understood where Yami was coming from.

"Hey! You two coming?" Joey asked.

"Sure thing, Joey." Yami said.

"Yami, he trusts you more than you might think." Seto said. He had seen Yugi, and he knew that Yugi trusted Yami a lot.

"I know, but he doesn't trust me completely yet." Yami said.

"He will." Seto said.

"I hope you're right." Yami said.

The two headed into the living room to play the game. The four hung out all day.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I don't own Playstation 3 or XBox. They belong to whoever created them.

Next: Yugi talks with the rest of his friends, and a little moment of Yugi and Yami.

R&R.


	27. Rebuilding Friendships and Nightmare

Here's the next chapter.

/Blah blah blah/- Hikari to Yami

/Blah blah blah/- Yami to Hikari

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 27- Rebuilding Friendships and Nightmare

It had been a week since Yugi had started talking with Seto and Joey again.

Slowly, Yugi was starting to rebuild his friendship with the two although there was still a lot of work that had to be done in order for those friendships to be as strong as they had been before the whole debacle had started.

It was clear that Yugi was slowly recovering, but he still had a lot to do, and that started with starting to rebuild the other friendships he had lost.

* * *

Yugi was sitting under one of the Sakura trees with Bakura, Ryou, Marik, Malik, Atemu, Heba, and Yami.

Joey and Seto had decided to eat lunch with Serenity, Mokuba, Tea, and Tristan that day.

Bakura and Marik were cackling with laughter.

Ryou glared at them. "It's not funny!" Ryou snapped.

"Come on, Ryou. What's not funny about that?" Bakura asked,

"The part where you almost killed the teacher with that stunt." Ryou said.

"It was just a small chemical explosion." Marik said.

"Small? You blew up half the science lab!" Ryou said angrily.

"It's not like we actually did kill him, though." Marik pointed out.

Ryou groaned in frustration.

Marik had chemistry instead of biology, and he had decided to pull a prank on his teacher, who he disliked intensely, and had enlisted Bakura's help.

Now, the two were laughing at the result of their prank.

"Come on, Ryou. You know how those two are. This is what Bakura and Marik do to deal with school." Atemu said.

"I just don't like it when they decide to endanger people's lives." Ryou said.

Malik, Yugi, and Heba all just shook their heads.

"So, how was the weekend?" Malik asked.

"It was fine. I actually hung out with Joey some since Seto was working this weekend." Yugi said.

"Yeah, and I could tell that Joey was thrilled at that." Heba said.

"I know. He's glad that we're on friendly terms again." Yugi said.

"So, what about the others?" Atemu asked.

Yugi sighed. "I know that I need to start rebuilding those as well." Yugi said.

"Starting with whom?" Yami asked.

"Probably Serenity and Mokuba." Yugi replied.

* * *

"What did you and Yugi do this weekend?" Serenity asked Joey.

Joey smiled brightly. "We stayed at the Game Shop and played games and watched movies a lot." Joey said.

"You mean, Atemu, Heba, and Yami actually left you two alone?" Tristan asked, shocked.

"Well, Atemu and Heba went out on a date, so it was actually just me, Yugi, and Yami. And yes, they would have left us alone. They're not being as overprotective." Joey said.

"Yeah, unless someone does something to purposely upset Yugi." Seto muttered, not taking his eyes off his laptop.

"I'd hate to be the one that does that. I'm sure that Yami would commit murder if something like that happened." Tea said, knowing how Yami had been since they had found out all that had happened to Yugi.

"When do you think Yugi will start talking to us?" Mokuba asked.

"I really don't know. Yugi's going through this in stages. It's something that's gradual, and Yugi's taking his time with this." Joey said.

"It's what's best for him." Seto put in.

"Yeah. Yugi's the one that's important in all this, so this needs to be done at Yugi's pace, not ours." Tristan said.

Despite the fact that Tristan and Tea had earlier thought that Yugi had been unfair, they had come to the realization that they only wanted to ease their own guilt, and they had not considered Yugi and all he had been through. They realized that they had to let Yugi come to them in his own time, so they had been waiting as well.

"Well, Yugi's doing better now, and I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to start talking to you guys before long." Joey said.

* * *

That night, Yugi was lying on his bed with his star pajamas on looking through several different photo albums that he had.

'I really do hate that I'm not as close to the others as I am to Joey and Seto. I mean, they all did the same thing, so it's no different. Yami did a lot more than they did, and I have more than forgiven him.' Yugi thought.

Yugi continued to flip through the photo album and came to picture of himself and Yami from before everything had started.

'Than again, I wouldn't be able to live if Yami wasn't in my life. I would miss the others a great deal, but I could handle losing them. I just couldn't handle losing Yami. Maybe that's why I was so willing to let Yami back in my life.' Yugi thought.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come on in." Yugi said without looking up.

Atemu, Yami, and Heba were the only ones in the house besides himself, so Yugi knew that it had to be one of them.

Yami opened the door and peered in. "Hey, Aibou. Are you busy?" Yami asked.

Yugi looked up at him and smiled. "No, Yami. Come on in." Yugi told him.

Yami walked on in and shut the door. "What are you doing?" Yami asked.

"Looking through some old photo albums I have." Yugi answered. He smiled and said, "I seem to be doing that a lot lately."

"No harm in that." Yami said, sitting down beside Yugi.

"I guess not." Yugi agreed.

Yami glanced over at his Hikari and studied his face for a moment. "Aibou, what's bothering you?" Yami asked.

Yugi turned to look at Yami. "What are you talking about? I'm fine." Yugi said.

Yami sighed before he pulled Yugi up to a sitting position. "Yugi, I know better than that. I can sense your worry through the link, now what is it?" Yami asked.

Yugi sighed. "I should know better than to try and hide something from you." Yugi said with a smile.

Yami gave a smile of his own. "Yes, you should. Now, what is it?" Yami asked, letting go of Yugi's wrists.

"Well, I guess I'm thinking about talking to Serenity, Mokuba, Tea, and Tristan soon. I really do miss having them around." Yugi said.

"Well, I know that they want to talk to you badly." Yami said.

"Yeah. I know. I guess I've just been having trouble with it, but I need to. I need to start rebuilding those friendships as well." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you decide when and where you want to meet with them. I'm sure that they would be glad to meet you wherever." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"Listen, Yugi. I know that all this is hard on you, but everything will be fine. If you need all of us there to support you, then you know that we'll all be there." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "And let Bakura and Marik threaten them?" Yugi asked.

Yami shrugged. "It worked with me." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "Yeah. I need to start rebuilding those friendships, too." Yugi said.

"Yugi, if you want, I'll tell them when and where." Yami said.

"Well, I think one day after school. And if Seto agrees, at his mansion. Let's face it. It'll be easier for everyone to fit there." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "Yeah. I guess you're right. It would be a tight squeeze here." Yami agreed.

"I'm not that worried, Yami." Yugi said.

"Good. What time?" Yami asked.

"Well, maybe tomorrow after school." Yugi said.

"Okay. I'll let them know. I'm sure that they'll be glad to go over to the mansion after school." Yami said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

"Anytime. Now, I think that you need to go to bed. We do have school." Yami said.

"I know, Yami." Yugi said.

Yami kissed Yugi on the forehead. "Good night, Aibou." Yami said.

"Good night." Yugi said, blushing lightly.

Yami got up and left the room.

'Why does he kiss me like that every night?' Yugi asked himself.

It always made Yugi blush because of the fact that Yugi was still in love with his dark.

'Well, at the very least, he does kiss me. Even if it doesn't mean the same thing to him that it does to me.' Yugi thought.

Yugi then got under the covers and settled down for bed.

* * *

Late that night, Yugi had started to toss and turn in the bed as he had a nightmare.

~Dream~

**Yugi was running through the darkness, searching for some form of light, but he never found any.**

**The sound of laughter was all around here.**

"**Where are you running to, slut?"**

"**Yeah. We haven't had the chance to fuck you yet!" another voice said.**

"**NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Yugi shouted.**

"**There's no one here to save you. No one wants to save you." a third voice sneered.**

"**No! Yami! Where are you?" Yugi shouted.**

"**He's not here. He left you, remember?" another voice said.**

"**No. He was killed for his treatment of you, but that doesn't matter now. You're ours now." the third voice said.**

"**NO! YAMI! WHERE ARE YOU?" Yugi screamed.**

**An image of Yami was ahead, and Yugi ran for it, but just as Yugi reached it, the vision vanished with Ra behind him.**

"**NO! DON'T TAKE HIM FROM ME! YAMI!" Yugi cried. **

~End Dream~

Yugi was still tossing and turning as he clenched the comforter in his hands.

* * *

Yami was sleeping soundly when a sudden shouting woke him up.

/NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!/

Yami jolted awake then, startled. "What the hell?" Yami muttered, shaking his head. He didn't hear anything for a moment. "Must have been dreaming." Yami muttered to himself.

/No! Yami! Where are you?/

Yami heard it again, and he instantly knew what it was.

Without another thought, Yami jumped out of the bed and ran over to his door, throwing it open before he dashed down the hall.

/NO! YAMI! WHERE ARE YOU?/

Yami arrived at Yugi's room and wrenched the door open.

/NO! DON'T TAKE HIM FROM ME! YAMI!/

Yami saw that Yugi was tossing and turning on the bed. He dashed over and climbed on the bed. "Yugi! Yugi, wake up?" Yami said, shaking Yugi.

Yugi didn't wake up. He was now sweating, his knuckles had turned white from how tightly he was gripping the comforter, and there were tears falling down his cheeks.

Yami then pulled Yugi into his arms and started to rock him gently. /Yugi! Yugi, wake up! You're having a nightmare! Wake up!/ Yami said.

Slowly, Yugi started to wake up. He blinked back the tears and looked up at Yami. It took a moment before he realized who it was that was holding him. "Y-y-y-Yami?" Yugi asked uncertainly.

"Shh! Its okay, Yugi. You're fine. You just had a nightmare." Yami said softly.

Once Yugi was certain Yami was there, he threw his arms around Yami and started crying. "Yami! I was scared!" Yugi said, sobbing.

Yami started to rub soothing circles on Yugi's back as tried to calm his Hikari down. As he did, flashes of the nightmare came across through the link, and Yami understood the nightmare.

Slowly, Yugi calmed down.

"Its okay, Aibou." Yami said.

"I-I know. I'm sorry I woke you." Yugi said.

"Don't apologize for that, Yugi." Yami said.

Yugi had finally calmed down.

"I'm the one who should apologize." Yami said.

"For what?" Yugi asked.

Yami brushed the tears from Yugi's cheeks. "Yugi, you were dreaming about those men coming after you, and I wasn't there to help you." Yami said.

Yugi then shook his head. "No, Yami. That wasn't the real reason behind the dream." Yugi said.

"Then what was?" Yami asked, noticing that Yugi had a tight grip on him.

"You weren't just not there. You were taken by the gods, and you weren't there. It was their fault that you weren't there, not yours." Yugi said.

Yami was shocked by this. "You mean, it was because I wasn't there." Yami said.

Yugi nodded. "I-I really don't think that I could handle losing you like that. I don't even want to think about it. I've been scared ever since that night when the gods told me they had considered ending your life." Yugi said. He bit his lip to keep a sob of escaping. "I-I don't think I could deal with something like that." Yugi said.

Yami tightened his hold on Yugi. "I didn't know that you were having nightmares about it, Yugi." Yami said softly.

"No one did. They hadn't really been that bad, but they were getting worse." Yugi said.

"Aibou, you should have told me about this." Yami said.

"I know, but I thought that it might bother you if I came to you with all the problems that I had." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you wouldn't bother me with something like that. I don't want you to keep you feelings buried because you think it might bother me. Its worse when you keep them buried." Yami said.

Yugi cracked a smile. "This from the master of burying his feelings?" Yugi asked.

Yami chuckled. "Yes. I guess it is kind of hypocritical of me, but it's the truth. It only results in nightmares like these." Yami said.

Yugi nodded. "I guess so." Yugi said.

"In any case, I'm not going anywhere, Little One. Unless I do something to screw up big, I am not going anywhere." Yami said.

Yugi nodded.

Yami could tell that Yugi was still afraid, and he could also sense that fear through the link. 'I could kick myself for not sensing these feelings sooner. I should have noticed that something was wrong.' Yami thought, making sure that it didn't slip through the link. "You should get some sleep, Yugi. We do have school tomorrow." Yami said.

Yugi nodded, but his grip didn't lessen.

Yami figured that there was one thing to do now. "Why don't I just stay in here with you tonight?" Yami asked. He used to do it before things went south when Yugi had a nightmare, so he figured that he could do it again.

"Okay." Yugi agreed.

The two lay down on the bed, and Yami pulled the covers over them.

Yugi curled up against Yami and soon fell asleep.

'Well, I'm glad that Yugi feels better now.' Yami thought. He glanced down at his Hikari. 'I never thought that nearly losing me would have done this to him. I guess he does care about me more than I thought. I'm not going to leave him for any reason right now. Not at all.' Yami thought.

It was a long time before Yami fell back asleep as he had a lot to think about, and he also wanted to make sure that Yugi didn't have another nightmare.

* * *

"Atemu, stop!" Heba groaned as he curled up under the covers.

Atemu had been trying to get Heba up. "Come on, Heba. Get up." Atemu said.

"Atemu! It's six in the morning! I'm not getting up until seven!" Heba said, pulling the covers over his head.

Atemu sighed. "Heba, you wanted to study more for that test, so get out of bed." Atemu said.

"No." Heba said.

Atemu shook his head. 'He is so hard to get up in the morning, even worse when he has to get up earlier.' Atemu thought.

Heba sighed contentedly when Atemu didn't bother him for a while.

Then, the covers were ripped away before Heba was scooped up.

"ATEMU!" Heba shouted.

Atemu rolled his eyes. "You were being hard to get along with." Atemu said.

Heba glared at Atemu.

"Oh, don't do that! You know that you wanted to study more for that test, so get over it." Atemu said before dropping Heba back on the bed.

Heba sighed. "Well, I might as well stay up." Heba said.

"Yes. You might as well." Atemu said.

"I'm getting something to drink before I study, though." Heba said.

"Fine." Atemu said.

The two started out the door and headed for the stairs when they noticed that the door to Yugi's bedroom was open.

"Doesn't Yugi normally close his door?" Heba asked.

"You know he does." Atemu replied.

The two looked in and were shocked when they saw Yami in bed with Yugi.

Heba growled. /I'LL KILL HIM!/ Heba said through the link.

Atemu held Heba back. /Heba, stop! You don't need to try to now because of Yugi!/ Atemu said.

Heba glanced at Atemu.

/We don't need to disturb Yugi, so just calm down. We'll kill him later./ Atemu said.

Heba nodded, still angry.

'I'm going to kill him before Heba has the chance.' Atemu thought, making sure that Heba didn't hear that thought. He didn't understand what Yami was thinking.

* * *

Yami had woken up at six-forty-five.

None of them ever really got up until fifteen after seven, so he figured that he could let Yugi sleep for another thirty minutes.

Yami got out of bed and headed into his room. He gathered his stuff and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

Once Yami had showered and dressed, he headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Atemu and Heba both glared at him when he walked into the kitchen.

Yami froze, unsure of what he had done. "What?" Yami asked.

"What the hell is your problem?" Heba growled.

Yami took a step back.

"Yami, are you out of your damned mind?" Atemu added.

"What exactly have I done?" Yami asked.

"What did you do! You were in bed with my brother! What were you doing, trying to take advantage of him?" Heba growled.

Yami immediately understood. "No! It's not what you think!" Yami said.

"Like hell it isn't!" Heba snapped, standing up.

Yami raised his hands in surrender. "Can I at least mount my defense before you decide to kill me?" Yami asked.

"You have five minutes." Atemu said.

"Okay. I was woken up because I heard Yugi shouting. He was a having a nightmare." Yami said.

Heba frowned. "I never heard Yugi shouting." Heba said.

"Because he was shouting through the link. I ran to his room and woke him up. He was really upset." Yami said.

"What was the nightmare about?" Atemu asked.

"Well, I guess being told by Ra and the others gods that they had thought about ending my life and separating us affected Yugi worse than I thought. He had had a nightmare about people coming after him again, and I wasn't there because the gods had taken me. He was just really upset about it because he had been hiding how much he was bothered by it. We talked about it, and Yugi seemed to feel better. He was still scared, so I asked him if he wanted me to stay in there tonight." Yami said.

"Why-" Heba started.

"Heba, when Yugi would have nightmares before everything went bad, Yami would usually stay in Yugi's room and sleep that night. That's all it was." Atemu said, calming down.

"It was?" Heba asked.

Yami nodded. "You can ask Yugi if you want. I didn't do anything to him. I wouldn't do something like that. Not after all that he has been through." Yugi said.

"Well, okay." Heba said.

"Just take it easy." Atemu said.

"Fine." Heba said.

Yami shook his head. "I wouldn't do something like that." Yami said.

"Okay." Heba agreed.

* * *

Yugi had gotten up at seven-fifteen and took a shower before he got dressed and headed downstairs.

Yami had fixed French toast for breakfast.

"Eat up." Heba said.

"Sure thing." Yugi said. He sat down and poured syrup over his French toast before he started eating.

"Yugi, do you still want everyone to meet over at Seto's after school?" Yami asked.

"What?" Heba asked, shocked.

"Well, I'm going to talk to the others now, and I figured that it would be easier to do that at Seto's mansion since it's bigger." Yugi said.

"You sure?" Atemu asked.

"Yeah. I think I need to do this now." Yugi said.

"Well, you know that we're all going to be there for you." Atemu said.

"Yeah. I know." Yugi agreed.

* * *

At break, Yami told the others about what Yugi wanted to do.

"He really wants to see us?" Serenity asked, hopeful.

Yami nodded. "He's decided to talk to you together. We'll be meeting at the mansion after school, if that's all right with you, Seto." Yami said.

"Sure thing. I don't have a problem with it." Seto said.

"I'm so glad that Yugi's going to talk to us!" Tea said, relieved.

"Yeah. We have a lot of apologizing to do." Tristan added.

"Just be warned that Bakura and Marik are going to be there, too." Yami said.

"What?" came several shocked voices.

"Hey. They've been by Yugi through all of this, right from the start. They have every right to be there." Yami said.

"Yeah. You're right about that." Mokuba agreed.

"Just make sure that they know that if I find anything missing from my mansion, I am going to hunt them down." Seto growled.

Yami nodded. "I'll tell them." Yami said.

"Good." Seto said.

"Um, Yami. What exactly should we say?" Serenity asked.

"That's not something I can answer. You will just have to say what you feel." Yami said.

"And pray it's not something that upsets Yugi." Tristan said.

"Or sets Bakura or Marik off." Mokuba added.

"Well, just be easy with him." Yami said.

"We will." Tea assured him.

* * *

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba were all heading over to the Kaiba mansion after school.

The others had gone on ahead.

"Are you sure about this, Yugi?" Heba asked.

"For the last time, Heba, yes!" Yugi said, exasperated.

Heba jumped. "You don't have to shout." Heba muttered.

Yugi groaned. "Heba, you have asked me that same question about a hundred times today. Literally! Now stop asking it!" Yugi said.

"Okay. Sorry." Heba said.

Yami and Atemu were walking a little behind the two.

"Heba's going to end up on the ground when Yugi decides to punch him if he asks that question again." Yami said.

Atemu chuckled. "And Heba's going to deserve that punch." Atemu agreed.

Yami looked up. "I just hope that this goes all right." Yami said.

Atemu glanced over at him. "What makes you think that it won't?" Atemu asked.

"Serenity asked what they should say, and I told her that they had to decide that. I just hope that they don't say the wrong thing." Yami said.

"I can understand that. They have to deal with this on their own." Atemu said.

"Yeah. I know." Yami replied. He shook his head. "Tea and Tristan have just been saying a lot of the wrong thing since all this started. I'm hoping that they won't say the wrong thing today. That will lead to a lot of problems." Yami said.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see." Atemu said.

"Will you two hurry up?" Heba shouted.

Yami and Atemu then realized that Yugi and Heba were way ahead of them, and they had to run to catch up.

"What were you two doing?" Heba asked.

"We were talking. You don't need to have a cow, Heba." Yami said.

"Well, let's get going. If we don't arrive soon, then I'm certain that the others are going to wonder what happened to us." Heba said.

"No. They'll think I changed my mind." Yugi corrected.

* * *

Sure enough, the four that had yet to talk to Yugi were rather nervous at the moment.

"Where are they?" Tea asked.

"They'll be here." Seto said. He was sitting in the recliner on his laptop as always.

"How do you know that? He could have changed his mind." Serenity pointed out.

"If Yugi had changed his mind, one of them would have called to tell us. Stop worrying so much." Joey said.

"You don't have anything to worry about, Joey. You're not the one who hasn't been forgiven." Tristan snapped before he continued pacing.

"Just cool it. They'll be here soon enough." Bakura snapped.

The group knew better than to say anything to Bakura or Marik. No one had the courage to given the past events.

It wasn't long before the butler announced that Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba had all arrived at the mansion.

"Sorry we're late. The slowpokes," Heba said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Yami and Atemu, "held us up a little."

"We were not holding you up." Yami retorted.

"Then why were we late?" Heba shot back.

Atemu groaned. "Will you two knock to off? I'm sick of listening to you two bicker like brothers!" Atemu snapped.

"Close enough." Marik said.

Atemu shot Marik a glare. "You're not helping matters." Atemu said.

Marik smirked. "That's my specialty." Marik said.

Atemu looked ready to attack.

Yugi shook his head. "I think that we were all here for another reason." Yugi said.

Serenity, Mokuba, Tea, and Tristan all realized that they needed to start talking now.

Tea started. "Yugi, I just want to say that I'm sorry. There's no excuse for what I did. There was no reason to ignore you the way I did. The fact that I never noticed is not an excuse for what I did, and I'm really sorry." Tea said.

"So am I. We didn't act like real friends. Real friends would have noticed, but we didn't. I'm sorry, Yugi. You went through hell without all your friends there to support you." Tristan added.

"Guys, you don't have to apologize." Yugi said.

"No. We do. There is no excuse for everything that we did. True friends wouldn't have acted like that." Serenity said.

"And it's not like we don't care about what we've done. We all screwed up, and we want you to know that we're sorry." Mokuba said.

Yugi felt like he had heard all this a hundred times, but he understood why they were saying what they were.

Everyone waited to here what Yugi would say.

"I do forgive you guys, but like I told Joey and Seto, it's going to take a while before I can trust you guys completely again. I am willing to be friends again, though." Yugi said.

"You are?" Tea asked, looking hopeful.

"Yeah. I'm not going to let good friendships go down the drain without a fight. Besides, I need to apologize myself." Yugi said.

"For what?" Serenity, Mokuba, Tea, and Tristan all asked, shocked.

Ryou, Bakura, Marik, and Malik were just as shocked. They had no idea what Yugi was apologizing for.

"For attacking you the way I did. My reasons weren't sound, and I was wrong to do that." Yugi said.

"But you weren't in control, either." Serenity said.

"Maybe, but I still need to apologize." Yugi said.

"Actually, Yugi, I don't think you do. I mean, if that hadn't happened, we might have stayed oblivious and never found out what happened." Mokuba said.

"Yeah. We are really sorry." Serenity added.

"I know, and as I said, I forgive you." Yugi said.

Tea and Tristan still looked rather guilty.

"Listen, Yugi. We need to apologize for something else." Tea said.

"What's that?" Yugi asked, looking at her.

"When you were first freed from the control of the Shadow magic, Tristan and I thought that you were in the wrong for avoiding us. We wanted to make things up to you, and we thought that you were wrong to run from us." Tea said.

"We thought that you were acting kind of cowardly, and we made it sound like you had been the one to do everything wrong. Yami made us see that we were only wanting to ease our own guilt and not thinking about you. We're sorry for that." Tristan said.

""Well, I can understand that, and you didn't have to tell me. I didn't know." Yugi said.

Tristan and Tea looked at Yami.

Yami shrugged. "I never thought to tell him." Yami said.

"Oh." Tea said.

"So, are we all okay?" Joey asked.

"I think so." Yugi said.

"Well, we're glad to have you back, Yugi." Tea said, hugging him.

"I am, too, Tea." Yugi said.

Heba frowned slightly. /Até, why didn't Yugi flinch like usual?/ Heba asked.

/I think that he's getting better about not flinching from touch./Atemu replied.

/Oh. I guess that makes sense./ Heba agreed.

"So, since we're all okay, what do we do now?" Serenity asked.

"Yeah. What do we do?" Joey asked.

Everyone looked at each other.

"I suppose we could hang out since we're all here." Yugi said.

"We could watch a movie." Tristan said.

"Hey! That's a great idea!" Mokuba agreed.

"Horror!" Marik and Bakura said.

"NO!" Yugi, Tea, Serenity, and Ryou said.

"How about something action?" Seto suggested.

Now the question was which action movie.

"Hey! Why don't we watch both _Transformers movies."_ Atemu said.

"Now there's a good double feature." Joey said.

Seto sighed. "We'll need-" Seto started.

"I'll get the popcorn!" Joey said as Mokuba said, "I'll get the drinks!" The two dashed to the kitchen.

"They're ahead of me." Seto muttered.

By the time the two returned, the first movie was starting.

The group of friends sat down around the large living room and spent time together watching movies for the first time in a long time.

* * *

Hope you liked it. _Transformers _belongs to its creators, not me.

Next: Grandpa comes back.

R&R.


	28. Grandpa

Here's the next chapter.

/blah blah blah/- Hikari to Yami

/blah blah blah/- Yami to Hikari

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 28- Grandpa

Yugi, Heba, Atemu, and Yami walked back into the Game Shop after being at school that day.

"I swear that if I see Bakura or Marik in a dark alley anytime soon, I will not be held responsible for what I do to them!" Yami growled.

"I'm with you on that one!" Atemu snarled.

"Oh, come on, you two. It wasn't that bad." Heba said.

"Not that bad? Those two deranged lunatics stole our clothes while we were showering after gym and ran them up the flagpole! What part of that isn't that bad?" Yami demanded.

"Well, at least Yugi and I were in the class with you and could get you some clothes." Heba said.

"That hardly helps, Heba." Atemu growled.

Yugi shook his head. "It's not like you were forced to walk around the school naked." Yugi said.

"You wouldn't have been saying that if it had been you, Yugi." Yami said.

Yugi shrugged. "I don't have to worry about them doing something like that to me." Yugi said.

Atemu and Yami both glared at Yugi.

"What? I just know what to do to hit them where it would hurt." Yugi said.

"And what's this secret that you know?" Atemu asked.

Yugi smiled. "Simple. Tell Malik and Ryou, and they'll cut them off." Yugi said.

All three stared at Yugi.

"What? It is the truth. Malik and Ryou cutting them off is a fate worse than death to those two. If Ryou and Malik tell them not to do something with the threat of cutting them off if they go through with it, then those two aren't going to do it." Yugi said as he set his bag on the table.

"But they wouldn't really do that, would they?" Yami asked.

Yugi laughed. "Ryou followed through with his threat once while I was still living with them. He cut Bakura off for nearly two weeks. I have never laughed as hard as I did when I saw Bakura begging Ryou to do it with him." Yugi said.

"Now that's a sight that I would have loved to have seen." Atemu said.

"Bakura would deny it, though." Yugi said as he started looking through the mail.

"And would Malik?" Heba asked.

"It would be harder for him, but Malik probably would. I know that he did cut Marik off for about a week once. About killed Marik." Yugi said.

The other three were laughing.

"Maybe I need to tell Ryou and Malik what those two did." Yami said.

"They already know." Yugi said.

"Did you tell them?" Heba asked.

"I didn't have to. They came to me for confirmation." Yugi answered.

"Well, maybe they'll get theirs in the end then." Yami said.

"Probably." Yugi said. He then came across something he liked. "Hey! We got a letter from Grandpa!" Yugi said.

"Really?" Heba asked as he came over.

"Well, open it." Atemu said.

Yugi opened the letter, took out the paper, and unfolded it before he started to read it aloud.

_Boys,_

_I'm sorry that it's been so long since I have written, but there has been a lot going on here. We have made some amazing finds. I'm also pleased to hear that Heba is there and living with us now. I cannot wait to see you all. I should be home by May 10th__, so be ready for when I do get home. I look forward to seeing you then._

_Love, Grandpa_

_P.S. The house had better be as I left it or I will be living alone again!_

"What is he going to do? Throw us out?" Atemu asked.

"Atemu, I think that Grandpa meant that he was going to kill us if something happened to the house." Yugi clarified.

"I'll be glad to see Grandpa." Heba said with a smile on his face. "I haven't seen Grandpa in a while, and I'm looking forward to seeing him again." Heba added.

"I'm sure that Grandpa feels the same way, Heba." Yugi said.

Atemu glanced over at Yugi. "So, are you going to tell Grandpa about what happened right way?" Atemu asked.

Yugi looked up.

Yami, Atemu, and Heba were all looking at him, waiting for his answer.

"I'll let Grandpa get settled in, so I'll wait a few days. Besides, I've got to figure out how I'm going to tell him." Yugi said.

"Nervous?" Yami asked.

"A little. It's going to be a lot for him to take in, and I know that Grandpa's going to get really upset when he hears all this." Yugi said.

"Yami, you may not have to worry about the probation period that the gods have given you. Grandpa might end up killing you." Atemu said.

Yami sighed. "I know, but it's not like I deserve anything less. I wouldn't expect less from Grandpa." Yami said.

"Well, with any luck, Grandpa won't go completely crazy." Yugi said.

"Yugi, this is Grandpa we're talking about. You know that he gets rather overprotective of us at times." Heba said.

"I know, but I can hope." Yugi said.

* * *

That night, Yugi and Yami were down in the living room watching TV together.

Heba and Atemu had left to go out on a date that night.

It was easy for Yugi to tell that Yami was uptight and worried about something, and it didn't take much for Yugi to figure out what it was that had Yami so Upset. "Yami?" Yugi asked.

Yami didn't answer.

"Yami." Yugi said again a little louder.

No answer.

"Yami." Yugi said a third time.

Still no response.

Yugi reached over and placed his hand on Yami's arm.

Yami jumped up and turned around, looking startled. "What?" Yami asked.

"Yami, I called you three times, and you never once answered me." Yugi said.

"Oh. Sorry." Yami said.

"What is your deal? You're over there looking like you're about to be executed." Yugi said.

"I might be." Yami admitted.

Yugi sighed. "Yami, are you worried about Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"It's more like I'm worried about what he's going to end up doing to me." Yami replied.

Yugi smiled. "Yami, one thing I know is that Grandpa is not going to kill you. You don't need to worry about that." Yugi said.

"Yugi, given what I did and what I let happen, I don't doubt that Grandpa is going to try to kill me. He's not going to forgive me for what I did to you." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "Yes, Grandpa is probably going to be angry, but I don't think it's going to be as bad you all think it is." Yugi said.

"And I think that you're being a little too optimistic given the situation that I am going to be in when Grandpa finds out." Yami said.

"Can I offer you a suggestion?" Yugi asked.

Yami looked at his Hikari. "What's that?" Yami asked.

"Stop worrying about something that hasn't happened yet. Grandpa's not even here yet, and he won't be for another week, so just calm down. Worry about it when Grandpa does get back." Yugi said.

"But you're worrying about how to tell him." Yami said.

"I want to know how I'm going to tell him, although that rarely works out. It'll be hard to tell him, and I know that I need to already have a plan on how I'm going to tell him." Yugi said.

Yami nodded. "And I need to be prepared for when Grandpa decides to bring out a gun and shoot me." Yami said.

"Grandpa doesn't own a gun." Yugi said.

"He might be good at knife throwing then." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "Yami, stop worrying about it." Yugi said.

"That's easy for you to say." Yami said.

"Yami, please trust me." Yugi said.

Yami sighed before he placed a hand on top of Yugi's hand. "I do trust you, Aibou. I just don't know how Grandpa will react." Yami said.

"Well, we'll find out soon." Yugi said.

"Yeah. I know." Yami said. 'And I may be dying soon.' Yami thought.

* * *

~May 10th~

Yugi and Heba were busy dusting the house before Grandpa got home later that day.

"Remind me why Yami and Atemu got out of doing this." Heba said.

"Because they have a group project with Seto and Ryou that they have to get done." Yugi said.

"That's so unfair." Heba said.

"If you had had some kind of project to do, then you would have gotten out of it, too." Yugi said.

The two soon were done and put up the cleaning supplies.

"Is there anything in this house that we haven't cleaned?" Heba asked.

"I don't think so." Yugi said.

The two heard a car outside.

"What is that?" Heba asked.

The two went out and saw their grandfather standing there with his suitcases, paying the cabbie.

"Grandpa!" Yugi and Heba exclaimed.

Solomon turned as the cabbie drove. Solomon smiled at his two grandsons. "Yugi. Heba. It's good to see you, boys." Solomon said.

Yugi and Heba ran over to hug their grandfather.

"I'm glad to see you boys." Solomon said.

"We're glad to see you, too, Grandpa. I missed you." Yugi said.

"And I missed you." Solomon said.

"I'm really glad to see you again, Grandpa. It's been way too long." Heba said.

"I agree, Heba." Solomon said, hugging Heba again.

"Come on. Let's go in." Yugi said.

Yugi and Heba helped their grandfather get their bags into the house.

"So, where are Yami and Atemu at?" Solomon asked.

"They're over at the Kaiba mansion. There was a project that they have to do with Ryou and Seto that they're working on." Yugi answered.

"At least they're doing homework." Solomon said, looking around.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Everything is here and in order, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"No parties?" Solomon asked.

"Of course not. Besides, if we did, it would just be all the friends we have over on a regular basis anyway." Yugi said.

"Still, I'll need to make sure that everything is in place." Solomon said.

"Wow. I might need to start watching it." Heba said.

Solomon then turned his attention to Heba. "So, are you and Yugi sharing a room?" Solomon asked.

Heba blushed lightly at that. "Um, no." Heba said.

Solomon looked surprised. "Then where?" Solomon asked.

"In Atemu's room." Heba said.

"Why there?" Solomon asked.

Heba didn't answer.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Heba and Atemu are dating, and Atemu convinced Heba to share a room with him." Yugi said.

"WHAT?" Solomon exclaimed.

Yugi and Heba both jumped.

"I'LL KILL THAT BOY AND YOU, TOO, HEBA!" Solomon growled.

Heba ducked behind Yugi. "Grandpa! Atemu and I aren't having sex! We just share a bed! I swear that we haven't gone that far!" Heba said, slightly panicking.

Solomon eyes him suspiciously.

"I'm being honest!" Heba added.

"Well, all right, but I don't want to hear anything of the sort for any reason." Solomon said.

Heba nodded.

Yugi shook his head. "So, how was the dig?" Yugi asked.

Solomon smiled. "Excellent. We found a lot of things." Solomon said.

"That's good." Heba said, inching out from behind Yugi.

"Well, if you boys would help an old man get his bags up the stairs, then I can unpack." Solomon said.

Yugi and Heba helped Solomon get his bags upstairs.

* * *

Yami and Atemu were heading home.

"I'm a dead man." Yami moaned.

"Yami, Yugi won't tell Grandpa for a few more days. You have until then to live." Atemu said.

Yami sighed. "I deserve it." Yami said.

The two walked into the house and found Yugi fixing dinner.

"Hi, boys!" Solomon said brightly.

'He doesn't know.' Yami thought. He smiled and said, "Hi, Grandpa. Welcome home."

"How was the trip?" Atemu asked.

"It was good." Solomon said.

"That's great." Atemu said.

"Now, I believe you and I have some things to discuss, young man." Solomon said sternly.

Yami gulped. 'I'm going to die.' Yami thought.

"About what?" Atemu asked.

"About you and Heba, Atemu. Heba's told me that you two are together and sharing a room." Solomon said.

Atemu gulped. 'I'm the one dying today.' Atemu thought.

"I won't force you to have separate rooms, but I don't want to hear anything. Understood?" Solomon asked.

"Yes, sir." Atemu said.

"Good. We shouldn't have any problems then." Solomon said.

Atemu nodded.

Yami looked over toward Yugi.

/No, Yami. I didn't tell Grandpa what happened. I probably will this weekend./ Yugi said.

/Okay, Aibou./ Yami said.

Yugi finished fixing dinner, and the group sat down to eat.

* * *

That Saturday, Yugi had decided that he would tell his grandfather everything that had happened while he was gone.

Yugi was in his room getting ready to go downstairs and talk with his grandfather.

Yugi wanted to do it alone, so he had asked Atemu, Heba, and Yami to leave the house for a while.

The three were hesitant.

~Flashback~

"_Yugi, I really think that we need to be here." Heba said._

_Yugi shook his head. "No, Heba. I want to do this alone." Yugi said._

"_Are you sure? You know that we want to support you." Atemu said._

"_I know, but I just feel that this is something that I need to do alone." Yugi replied._

_Heba sighed from his place beside Yugi on the bed. "If that's what you want, we will. The gang wants to go out over the weekend anyway. We can go in the morning." Heba said._

_Yugi nodded._

"_Yugi, I really think that I need to be here. I mean, I'm part of the reason all this happened, so I should be here." Yami said._

"_Yami, if being part of the reason all this happened warranted your presence, then everyone would need to be there. I need to do this alone." Yugi said._

"_If you need anything, call through the link." Yami said._

"_I will, but you don't need to worry. Grandpa isn't going to hurt me. Like all of you, he'll be angry at the ones that did it." Yugi said._

"_And he'll want to strangle the life out of me for all that I did. I think I need to be here so that he can do that." Yami said._

"_Yami, if Grandpa does want to kill you, then you need to be as far from Grandpa as possible." Yugi said._

_Yami started to protest._

"_Yami, if it takes me calling Bakura and Marik and getting them to help me drag you out of here, I will." Atemu said._

_Yami knew that his brother would do it. He sighed and said, "Fine. I'll go."_

~End Flashback~

'Well, I might as well get it over with.' Yugi thought. He got up and headed downstairs to find his grandfather sitting in the living room reading the newspaper.

Solomon looked up when he saw Yugi. "Yugi, I thought you had left with Yami, Atemu, and Heba." Solomon said.

"No, Grandpa. I didn't go." Yugi said.

"Well, you should go on and join your friends." Solomon said.

"Actually, Grandpa, I needed to talk to you." Yugi said.

"Yugi, whatever it is, I'm sure that it could wait." Solomon said.

"Actually, it can't, Grandpa." Yugi said.

Solomon looked at his grandson. "Yugi, there can't be anything important enough to warrant you doing it now when you could be spending time with your friends." Solomon said.

"This is." Yugi said, sitting down on the couch across from Solomon, who was sitting in the recliner.

Solomon folded the paper and set it aside. "All right, Yugi. Go ahead." Solomon said.

Yugi nodded and took a deep breath before he started telling Solomon everything, starting with Yami and Tea dating.

* * *

The group was at the mall, but Yami wasn't having a good time. He was too antsy.

"Geez, Yams. Someone would think you were heading to the gallows instead of hanging out with friends at the mall." Joey said.

The group stared at Joey.

"What?" Joey finally asked, wondering why they were staring at him.

"Do you even know what gallows mean?" Tristan asked.

Joey turned red. "Of course I do!" Joey said.

Seto rolled his eyes. "I have broadened his vocabulary." Seto said.

"That makes more sense." Bakura said.

"So, what's up?" Tea asked.

Yami sighed. "Yugi's telling Grandpa everything that happened while he was gone." Yami explained.

Everyone looked at him.

"He is?" Serenity asked.

Yami nodded.

"That's not good for us." Tristan said.

"Yeah. Grandpa won't let us step foot in his house ever again." Mokuba added.

"And I'll be dead." Yami said.

"You don't know that." Atemu said.

"Can't blame the old man if he does it." Bakura said.

"No, I can't." Yami said.

"Guys, can we forget about this. We can worry about it when we see Grandpa." Heba said.

"You're not the one with a death sentence." Yami said.

"Well, there's no point in worrying about it right now." Heba said.

"He's right. Let's just enjoy today." Atemu said.

The friends continued on, although it was with less enthusiasm than before.

* * *

Solomon was shocked.

No, he was beyond shocked. And angry.

Yugi hadn't left a thing out. Not the way he was treated, not the rape, not the time when he was out of control, nothing. He had told him everything.

Solomon had been silent for several moments.

Yugi was getting worried. "Grandpa, say something." Yugi said.

Solomon growled. "That does it! I am going to kill Yami!" Solomon said angrily.

"Grandpa, please." Yugi started.

"No, Yugi! He had no right to treat you that way! He wasn't there when you needed him the most! You could have died, and you had only five people there! I won't calm down!" Solomon said.

Yugi was quiet.

"You tried to tell him, and he didn't listen! That's beyond excusable!" Solomon said.

"He knows that." Yugi said.

"Meaning?" Solomon demanded.

"Grandpa, Yami knows what he did was wrong. When we talked about it, he never tried to excuse it. He accepts blame for what he did, and he's spent the last month trying to make things up to me." Yugi said.

Solomon took a deep breath. "Are you okay?" Solomon asked.

"I'm-getting there.' Yugi said hesitantly.

Solomon waited.

"I've been seeing a psychiatrist, and she's helping me a lot. I'm recovering." Yugi said.

"You are?" Solomon asked.

Yugi nodded. "The nightmares aren't as bad as they used to be, and I can talk about it without having flashbacks or near panic attacks." Yugi said.

Solomon shook his head. "It will take a long time for me to forgive him." Solomon said.

"I've forgiven him, Grandpa, but I don't trust him entirely yet. He's having to earn that trust back, just like everyone else." Yugi said.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that much." Solomon said.

"Grandpa, I know that you don't like this, but please don't hurt Yami or kick him out. He's one of the reasons that I've gotten better. He didn't try to excuse what he did, and he is trying to redeem himself. He has in some ways." Yugi said.

"Well, at least he did get rid of those men." Solomon agreed.

"Grandpa, I'm going to be honest. Ra and the other Egyptian gods had thought about ending Yami's life over this and ending the link between us." Yugi said.

Solomon was surprised. "They didn't follow through?" Solomon asked.

Yugi nodded. "Because I begged them not to." Yugi said.

Solomon moved to the couch and put a hand on Yugi's. "Why did you want him to stay?" Solomon asked.

Yugi gave him a strained smiled. "Grandpa, I need Yami in my life. I really do. I don't think that I could handle not having him there. Plus, I love him." Yugi said.

"I know you do." Solomon said.

"No, Grandpa. I really love Yami. Like Heba does Atemu." Yugi said.

"You do?" Solomon asked.

Yugi nodded.

"Why?" Solomon asked.

"I did before this started, and I still do. I just don't want to lose him." Yugi said.

"Does he know?" Solomon asked.

Yugi shook his head. "No. Yami doesn't know anything about that. I don't know that I'll ever have that with him, but I want him in my life at least." Yugi said.

Solomon was quiet again. He finally spoke. "I'm angry, Yugi. In more than one way. I won't forgive any of them easily. I will tell you that." Solomon said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"But you obviously need Yami, and you have forgiven him. If you can, then so can I." Solomon said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks." Yugi said.

"Why didn't you contact me in Egypt?" Solomon asked.

"We didn't know how, and at the time, I didn't want you to know. See, at the time, I thought that if anyone knew what had happened, they would have been disgusted with me. I know that's not true now, but that's what I felt." Yugi said.

"I understand, but I would have never thought that." Solomon said.

"I know." Yugi said.

Solomon sighed. "This is a lot to take in, and you obviously have been through a lot, so I won't put you through anymore. I will let them know that I'm angry, but I won't do more." Solomon said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"So, you and Heba can have kids?" Solomon asked.

Yugi blushed and nodded.

"Well, I may get some great-grandchildren yet." Solomon said.

Yugi laughed at that. "Yeah. Some day." Yugi said.

"Will you ever tell Yami how you feel?" Solomon asked.

"Maybe one day, but not yet. He'll need to completely regain my trust first." Yugi replied.

Solomon nodded. "Just let me know when you do." Solomon said.

"So you can have a talk where you threaten his life." Yugi said.

"And warn him about moving too fast." Solomon said.

"Grandpa, he wouldn't, and we don't even know he would want to go out with me." Yugi said.

"I know." Solomon said. 'But Yami does love you Yugi, and he won't make the first move with what happened before.' Solomon thought.

* * *

Yami, Atemu, and Heba walked into the house.

"Yami! I want to talk to you!" Solomon said.

Yami gulped. "I'm dead." Yami said.

"Been nice knowing you." Heba said as he and Atemu headed upstairs.

Yami headed into the living room and found Solomon in the living room in his recliner.

"Sit down." Solomon said, pointing to the couch.

Yami did as he was told.

"Now, Yugi told me everything, and I have to say that I'm not happy with you." Solomon said.

"Yes, sir." Yami said.

"What you did was wrong, low, and inexcusable." Solomon said.

"I know." Yami said.

"Now, I have talked with Yugi, and I know that Yugi needs you, so I'm not going to ring your neck like I had thought." Solomon said.

Yami was slightly relieved.

"I am giving you a warning. If you ever hurt my grandson again, the gods won't have the chance to deal with you while you're alive. I'll kill you myself." Solomon said.

"Yes, sir." Yami said.

"Now, I will tell you that you will also have to earn my trust back, and it won't be easy." Solomon said.

"I understand." Yami said.

Solomon sighed. "Now, I also want to thank you." Solomon said.

Yami now looked surprised.

"Yugi told me of how you've helped him, and I am grateful to you for that. Just don't mess up again, or you are dead." Solomon said.

"Yes, sir, and thank you." Yami said.

"And stop with the sir things. It's Grandpa." Solomon said.

"All right, Grandpa, and I am really sorry." Yami said.

"I know." Solomon said.

* * *

"I told you it would be fine." Yugi said to Yami as they sat on Yami's bed that night.

"Because of you. You saved me from the gods and from Grandpa. I'm supposed to protect you." Yami said.

Yugi shrugged. "I just did what I needed to." Yugi said.

"Well, thanks, Aibou. I appreciate it." Yami said.

"I don't want to lose you, Yami, so there was no way I would let it go without a fight. Grandpa will forgive you at some point." Yugi said.

"I know. I'm just glad that I have the chance to earn Grandpa's trust back, too." Yami said.

"You will." Yugi said.

Yami hugged him. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." Yami said.

"Any time." Yugi said.

* * *

A few days later, Solomon talked with the rest of the gang.

Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik were thanked profusely for their helping Yugi.

And the others were told that he was angry and that they would have to earn his forgiveness and his trust.

They were all glad for the chance.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: A sleepover.

R&R.


	29. Sleepover

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 29- Sleepover

Yugi was in his room getting ready for school on a Friday morning. 'At least school will be over soon, and I'll be able to sleep in some.' Yugi thought.

Yugi was a little on edge that day because he had had a nightmare about the night he had been raped. They had become less common and less vivid. It had woken him up, but he hadn't been as terrified as before. He didn't wake anyone up, and he had been able to go back to sleep easily, but he figured that he would talk with Yami about it later.

There was a knock on the door. "Yugi, are you up?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. Come on in, Yami." Yugi said as he put on his neck belt.

Yami opened the door and walked into the room. "Grandpa just wanted me to make sure that you were up." Yami said.

"Yeah. What about Heba and Atemu?" Yugi asked.

"I haven't made it there, yet." Yami said.

"Well, I might as well come with you." Yugi said as he grabbed his bag.

The two headed out of Yugi's room, and they went to Heba and Atemu's room.

Yami knocked on the door and received no answer.

"When they don't want to get up, they don't want to get up." Yugi said.

"Yeah. I suppose so." Yami said as he opened the door.

The two looked into the room and opened the door.

Atemu and Heba were both sound asleep.

Yami walked over and shook Atemu none-too-gently.

Atemu jerked awake. "What?" Atemu growled.

"Get up before Grandpa comes up here and drags you out of bed." Yami said.

"Fine. I'll get Heba up." Atemu muttered.

Yami turned and left the room with Yugi.

"You could have been nicer." Yugi said.

"He's my brother. It's my right to be cruel if I want to be." Yami said.

The two walked into the kitchen.

"Morning, boys." Solomon said.

"Morning." Yugi said as the two sat down.

"Where are Atemu and Heba?" Solomon asked.

"They're up. They should be down soon." Yami said.

"More like we'll be hearing Heba soon." Yugi said.

"What-" Solomon started.

"DAMN IT, ATEMU! I WAS SLEEPING!" Heba suddenly shouted.

"That's what I meant. Heba's not a morning person at all." Yugi said.

Solomon shook his head. "Maybe I should stop letting Heba hang around Bakura and Marik as much as I do. I think that their bad habits are starting to rub off onto Heba." Solomon said.

"Grandpa, I lived with them for several months, and I never picked up their bad habits. Sorry, but I think Heba's like Malik in the respect that he's a Hikari who has no shame in cursing or acting the part of the Yami as far as fighting goes." Yugi said.

Solomon sighed. "I know. I wish that boy would tone it down some." Solomon said.

Yami chuckled. "I very much doubt that will happen." Yami said.

"I know." Solomon said as he placed a plate of pancakes on the table.

Yugi and Yami got some and started to eat.

A rather disgruntled-looking Heba and Atemu walked into the room.

"Heba, please tone down the cussing." Solomon said.

"Sorry, Grandpa." Heba mumbled as he sat down to eat.

Yami looked over at his brother. "How did you wake him up?" Yami asked.

"He didn't want to get up, so I just picked him up out of bed." Atemu answered.

"I was sleeping good, too." Heba said.

"Heba, you have school. You had to get up." Solomon told his grandson.

"I know, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it." Heba said.

"No. You don't." Solomon agreed.

Once the four had finished eating their breakfast, they got their bags for school and headed out the door.

"I hate school." Heba muttered.

"Heba, we have three weeks of school left and then we'll have summer break." Yugi said.

"I still don't like it." Heba said.

Atemu wrapped an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders. "You'll live, Heba." Atemu said.

"Not if I have to take math again next semester. I hate that subject with a passion." Heba stated.

"We are all aware of that, Heba. Believe me. I can see why you don't like it. You stink at math." Yami said.

"Thanks a lot." Heba said.

"You said that to me first. Besides, you were the one who begged me to tutor you in math when you found out I was good at it." Yami said.

"I know. I just wish that I was better at it." Heba said.

Yugi shook his head. "Heba, you could do better if you wanted to. You just don't like the subject, so you do good enough to get a B." Yugi said.

"I get B's at least. Not all of us are straight-A students, Yugi." Heba said.

"I get A's because I study." Yugi replied.

The four arrived at school to find that Tea, Tristan, Ryou, Bakura, Marik, and Malik were waiting for them outside the school gates.

"Where are the others?" Yami asked.

"They're on their way. Mokuba called to tell us they'd be running behind." Tea said.

"And we could hear Seto fussing at Joey about taking his sweet time." Tristan added.

Bakura and Marik snickered.

Yugi shook his head. "There's someone else who is looking forward to the end of the school year." Yugi said.

"So are we!" Bakura, Marik, Malik, and Tristan all said at the same time.

"Come on. Let's get going." Atemu said.

The friends headed inside.

"So, are you four coming?" Tristan asked.

"Coming to what?" Yami asked.

"The sleepover." Ryou said.

"What sleepover?" Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba asked at the same time.

"Joey didn't tell you?" Bakura asked.

"Apparently not." Yami said.

"Scatterbrains." Tristan muttered.

"What was he supposed to have told us?" Yugi asked as he opened his locker.

"Joey wants everyone to come over Friday night so that we can have a sleepover." Marik muttered.

"I'm surprised that Joey never mentioned it." Heba said.

"Just like I said, scatterbrains." Tristan said.

"Well, I don't see why we won't be able to come." Yami said.

"That's good. I know that Joey wants us all to come." Tea said.

"Like hell I am." Bakura said.

"Yes, you are." Ryou said.

"Why can't I skip out?" Bakura asked.

"Because I don't want to know what kind of trouble you're going to get yourself in. Besides, if you don't come, you are going to be on the couch for the next month." Ryou said sternly.

Bakura paled at the thought. "Okay! I'll go!" Bakura said.

Tristan, Tea, Yami, Yugi, Heba, and Atemu had to fight against laughing out loud.

"Malik-" Marik started.

"No, Marik. You're going." Malik said.

"Damn!" Marik said.

This time, the six couldn't stop the laughing.

"What's so funny?" Joey asked.

The others looked to see that Seto, Joey, Serenity, and Mokuba had arrived.

The bell rang.

"Later." Yami said.

The group then headed off to their separate classes.

* * *

The group of friends had gathered under the Sakura tree at break.

"So, Joey. Why didn't you mention about the sleepover to any of us?" Yami asked.

"I told you." Joey said.

"No, Joey. Not one of us had heard anything about it until Tristan mentioned it this morning." Atemu replied.

"I could have sworn I told you." Joey said, scratching his head.

Seto rolled his eyes. "Puppy, you obviously forgot to tell them about it." Seto said.

Joey glared at him.

Seto pointedly ignored him as he turned his attention back to the file he was looking over on his laptop.

"So, are you coming?" Serenity asked.

"I don't think that Grandpa will have a problem with it. We should be able to come." Yugi replied.

"That sounds good." Mokuba said.

"Yeah. We're going to be able to do a lot of things." Joey said his eyes bright.

"What all do you have planned?" Yugi asked.

"You'll find out." Joey said with a mischievous smile.

"You know, now I'm getting worried." Tea said.

No one disagreed since they never knew what to expect when Joey got mischievous and wouldn't tell them anything.

* * *

At home that evening, Yugi and Yami were in the kitchen doing their homework.

Yami leaned back in his chair and stretched. "So, when do you think Atemu and Heba will get home?" Yami asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that they'll both be grounded if they get home after curfew." Yugi replied.

Yami chuckled. "Yeah. Grandpa grounded you, me, and Atemu when we were late home not long after we got our bodies. You'd have thought we were coming in at three in the morning instead of just thirty minutes past curfew." Yami said.

"But we never broke it again." Yugi said as he closed his book and put it up.

"I know." Yami said.

The two sat there for a few moments before Yugi decided to tell Yami about his dream the night before. "Um, Yami. There's something I need to tell you." Yugi said.

"What's that?" Yami asked, turning to look at Yugi.

"Well, um, last night, I had a nightmare." Yugi said.

Yami's eyes widened. "About what?" Yami asked.

"The night I was raped." Yugi admitted.

"Yugi, why didn't you come and get me last night?" Yami asked. He didn't like the idea that Yugi had had a nightmare with no one there for him.

"Because it wasn't that bad." Yugi said.

"But-" Yami started.

Yugi reached over and placed a hand on Yami's hand. "Yami, it really wasn't that bad. It wasn't as vivid as some of the others were, and I didn't have any trouble going back to sleep." Yugi said.

"You didn't?" Yami asked a little surprised.

Yugi nodded. "The dreams don't bother me as much as they used to. Dr. Grey said that the dreams will become less and less vivid, and that they won't scare me as much as they used to, and she's right. I don't actually think about it as much as I used to. I am dealing with it." Yugi said.

"Well, that's good." Yami said.

"I don't have to go running to someone every time I have a nightmare." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you know that I don't mind you coming to me when you have a nightmare." Yami told his Hikari.

"I know, Yami. I really do. I guess I just don't have to go to people as much." Yugi said.

"I suppose that's a good thing." Yami said. He was glad that Yugi was starting to get past what had happened to him.

"Yeah. It is. I mean, I guess it will always be something that bothers me on some level, and there are still going to be dome ways that I'm going to get upset over it, but I'm getting better." Yugi said.

"Well, that's good, Aibou." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Yami." Yugi said.

* * *

That night at dinner, the four told Solomon about the sleepover that Joey was planning on Friday.

"Well, this is kind of last minute. It is Wednesday after all." Solomon said.

"Grandpa, Joey was the one who was supposed to tell us in the first place." Heba said.

"Ah! That explains a lot." Solomon said, shaking his head. He knew how forgetful Joey could be.

"Yeah. We just found out this morning when Tristan asked us if we were coming, thinking we knew." Yami said.

"Well, I see no problem with it. I would just like you to get your homework done before we went over there or at least have most of it done." Solomon said.

"We will, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"All right. I suppose you can go." Solomon said.

"Thanks, Grandpa." Heba said.

Solomon chuckled. "Anytime." Solomon said.

* * *

~Friday~

"So, everyone is coming over right after school, right?" Joey asked at lunch.

"Sorry, Joey. We'll have to go home and do some of our homework. Grandpa wants us to have at least half of it done before we come over." Yugi said.

"Yeah. He doesn't want us to take the chance that we'll fall behind." Atemu added.

"I think that we all should all follow that and get some of our homework done." Tea agreed.

Joey looked a little disappointed.

"Don't worry, Joey. We'll all try to be over at the mansion by six or six-thirty." Ryou said, trying to cheer his friend up.

"Well, I guess we can get things set up." Joey said.

"Yeah, and I'll have time to do some work." Seto said.

"Seto!" Joey, Mokuba, and Serenity all scolded.

"You said no work during the sleepover, not before it." Seto said.

"He has a point." Mokuba said.

"Good." Seto said.

"Anyway, we'll all be over there then." Yami said.

"Well, that sounds good." Joey said.

"So, what are we doing? Sleeping in the living room, or are we all just going to sleep in different rooms?" Ryou asked.

"As many rooms as are in the house, we're all just going to sleep in the rooms." Mokuba said.

"Good. We don't have to sleep on the floor." Marik said.

"You should be used to it." Malik said.

Everyone looked at Malik.

"What? It's not my fault that he falls out of the bed and doesn't wake up. He sleeps on the floor because he falls down there and doesn't get up." Malik said.

"It's not that uncomfortable." Marik said.

"At least we know that we don't need to bring anything to sleep on." Tea said.

* * *

~Sleepover~

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba all arrived at the Kaiba mansion at six forty-five.

"So, what all do you think Joey has planned for us to do tonight?" Heba asked.

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough. I do know that we probably won't be going to bed until very early in the morning." Yami said.

"We all do know that, Yami. We know how Joey is." Yugi said.

Atemu then rang the doorbell.

It took a matter of seconds before the door was thrown open by Joey.

All four jumped backwards at the sudden opening of the door.

"Hey, guys! Come on in!" Joey said.

All four walked into the house, and Joey shut the door before leading them into the living room.

Tea, Tristan, Ryou, and Bakura were already there along with Seto, Mokuba, and Serenity.

"Looks like we're all almost here." Joey said.

"We noticed." Bakura said.

Ryou smacked him in the head for his rudeness.

"Any idea where Malik and Marik are?" Tea asked.

"We haven't talked to them since school." Yami said.

"I'm sure that Malik is having to drag Marik here. We all know that he wasn't that thrilled with coming." Yugi said.

"Marik's never thrilled with having to do anything that doesn't involve killing, stealing, or tormenting someone." Yami said.

"Come on. I'll show you where to put your stuff." Mokuba said.

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba followed Mokuba upstairs to the room.

"You two will be in this room." Mokuba said to Atemu and Heba, pointing to a room on his right.

Atemu and Heba headed into the room to put their stuff up.

"Do you two mind sharing a room?" Mokuba asked, turning to look at Yugi and Yami.

"That's not a problem, Mokuba." Yugi said.

"Thanks. Seto didn't think to mention to the maids that you two would want separate rooms." Mokuba said.

"Don't worry about it." Yami said.

"You'll be in that room." Mokuba said, pointing to the room across from Atemu and Heba's room.

"Thanks." Yugi said as he and Yami headed into the room.

Mokuba then left.

"I wonder why Seto didn't tell them to give us separate rooms." Yugi remarked.

"There's no telling. He might have just forgotten. It doesn't matter. It's not like we haven't shared a bed before." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said. He then looked over at the king size bed. "Besides, there's more than enough room in that bed for the both of us." Yami said.

"Yep" Yugi said.

The two then left the room and found Heba and Atemu waiting on them.

"What? Are you two sharing a room?" Heba asked.

"Yeah. Apparently, Seto forgot to tell the maids that we would have separate rooms." Yugi said.

"It's not big deal, though." Yugi said.

The four then headed back downstairs.

"So, what do you plan on us doing, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"I'm not telling until Marik and Malik get here." Joey replied.

"That's not exactly fair." Tristan said.

"And I don't care." Joey said.

Seto shook his head.

It wasn't long before they heard a commotion outside.

"Come on, Marik!" Malik snapped.

"I think they're here." Atemu said.

Joey opened the door, and Malik dragged Marik in.

"If I have to deal with this, then you do, too." Bakura said.

Marik glared at him.

"Come on. Once I show you which room you'll be in, we can get started." Joey said as he headed upstairs.

"What does he have planned?" Yami asked.

Serenity shrugged. "He won't tell us that." Serenity said.

Atemu looked over at Seto. "Surely you have to know." Atemu said.

"I do." Seto said.

"So, what does he have in mind?" Yami asked.

"Not saying." Seto said.

"Why not?" Heba asked.

"Because Seto will be on the couch for a month if he tells anyone anything." Mokuba said.

Seto looked over at Mokuba. "How did you know?" Seto asked.

"He was yelling it. It wasn't that hard to hear. Besides, that's how Joey always gets you to do what he wants." Mokuba said.

Seto sighed at that.

It was only a few minutes later when Joey, Malik, and Marik walked back down.

"Okay. We can get started now." Joey said, clapping his hands together.

"Finally! What do you have planned for us to do?" Bakura asked.

"Well, I figured that we could eat before we do anything else." Joey said.

"Typical." Marik muttered.

Seto rolled his eyes. "Come on." Seto said.

The group headed into the kitchen and were surprised to find that there was food from Burger World on the table.

"You ordered Burger World for all of us?" Atemu asked.

"Yeah. I knew that everyone ate from there, and I figured that everyone would be happy with this." Joey said.

"Well, you were right about that." Bakura said.

It turned out that Joey had ordered everyone's favorite from Burger World.

"That was an excellent idea, Joey." Yami said after everyone had eaten.

"Good. I figured that we could all eat." Joey said.

"So, now what?" Malik asked.

"I was thinking that we could play Twister." Joey said.

"Twister?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah. We all like the game." Joey said.

"I don't think that playing Twister right after eating is such a good idea." Yugi said.

"He's right. We should do something less physical first." Seto said.

"Okay. We could always watch a movie." Joey said.

"You know, that's not really a bad idea." Tea said.

"What movie?" Mokuba asked, knowing that an argument was about to ensue.

"Well, since _Ironman 2 _just came out, I thought that we would watch that." Joey said.

"Perfect." Tristan said.

Joey got the DVD and put it in.

The group then settled down to watch the movie.

~Two Hours Later~

Joey took out the movie and put it up when it was over.

"Now that's a good movie." Yami said.

"Yeah. You can watch it more than once, just like the _Transformers _movies." Bakura said.

"Okay! We can play Twister now!" Serenity said.

"So, how are fourteen people going to play Twister?" Heba asked.

"Well, we can split it up into two teams, and then the winner of each team can play each other." Joey said.

"I say that Yugi and Yami be on the same team." Bakura said.

"Why?" Yami asked.

"Because you two tend to win all the time. That way, only one of you will make it to the last round." Bakura said.

"It doesn't mean that we're going to make it, anyway." Yugi said.

"Yeah. Our specialty is card games and strategy names. Twister doesn't exactly fall into that category." Yami said.

"In any case, let's get started." Joey said.

On the first team was Yami, Yugi, Ryou, Marik, Seto, Tristan, and Serenity.

On the second team was Atemu, Heba, Tea, Bakura, Malik, Joey, and Mokuba.

The last game ended up being between Tea and Serenity.

"Told you." Yami said before the game started.

"Okay. Get started." Tea said as she and Serenity stood on the map.

Yugi spun the spinner. "Tea, right hand red." Yugi said.

Tea put her hand on the spot.

"Serenity, left food green." Yugi said.

Serenity did as she was told.

"Tea, left foot blue." Yugi said.

Tea moved her hand to the spot.

"Serenity, right hand yellow." Yugi said.

Serenity did.

The game went on with Tea and Serenity showing how limber they were at maneuvering around each other.

Finally, Tea lost her balance and ended up falling.

"Sorry, Tea, but it looks like Serenity won." Yami said.

"No biggie. Congratulations, Serenity." Tea said.

"Thanks." Serenity said.

"Now what?" Yugi asked.

"We're going to play "I have never"." Joey said.

"What?" Yami asked.

"It's simple. You sit around with shot glasses with something in it. Each person says something you have never done before, and if someone else in the group has done that, then they have to drink. If not, you don't drink." Joey said.

"So, we're using alcohol?" Bakura asked hopefully.

"NO!" Seto snapped.

"Bakura, none of us are old enough to drink, and we're not breaking the law. We're just using soda." Joey said.

"Damn." Bakura groaned.

Joey went and got the glasses and the soda.

Everyone sat around with a shot glass.

"And just to be clear, it only applies to this lifetime. Anyone from ancient Egypt has to use the present day life." Seto said.

"Got it." Yami said.

"Now, I have never cheated on a test." Seto said.

Joey, Tristan, Bakura, and Marik all had to take a drink.

"I have never been arrested." Joey said.

Bakura and Marik were the only ones to drink.

"I have never aced a test." Tristan said.

Only Yami, Yugi, and Seto didn't drink.

The game continued with crazy ones like Tea's never having been in public naked, which Bakura and Marik both drank to along with their Hikaris. There was also Bakura's never having been caught in a crime, which no one drank to. There was also Mokuba's never having failed a test.

Each person came up with something crazy or reasonable.

"I have never had sex." Serenity said.

Everyone but Mokuba, Serenity, Yami, Yugi, Atemu, and Heba drank to that.

Yugi, however, had frozen.

The statement had struck a cord.

"I have never danced in front of others." Tristan said.

Yugi didn't hear that. His mind was elsewhere. He set his glass aside and left the room quickly but quietly. It went unnoticed by anyone.

Except for one.

Yami had noticed Yugi freeze, and he had also noticed Yugi leave. He also left the room quietly. He went down the hall and saw the light in the bathroom on. He opened the door and noticed Yugi gripping the sink tightly. His body was shaking slightly. He walked over to Yugi and placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder.

Yugi jumped and whirled around to face Yami. There were tears in Yugi's eyes.

"Yugi, what's wrong?" Yami asked.

"N-n-nothing.' Yugi said shakily.

Yami frowned. "Yugi, you left the room, and you're crying. I know that something is wrong. What is it about what Serenity said that upset you?" Yami asked.

Yugi took a deep breath. "Because I can't answer yes to that." Yugi said.

Yami understood. "Oh." Yami said.

"I-I want to be able to answer yes to that question, but I can't. It's not possible to now." Yugi said.

Yami reached over and wiped Yugi's tears away. "Yugi, I know you can't, but you have to remember that it wasn't your choice." Yami said.

"But-" Yugi started.

"Yugi, it was never your choice, so in my opinion, no, you've never had sex." Yami said,

"But I'm not a virgin." Yugi said.

Yami was quiet a moment. "No, and I wish that wasn't true." Yami said.

Yugi looked down.

Yami forced him to look back up. "Yugi, I know that this is hard. In fact, I don't know how hard this is for you, but please don't let it get you down. It's not your fault." Yami said.

Yugi nodded. He gave him a strained smile and said, "Remember how I said that I had a little trouble with some parts of what happened?"

Yami nodded.

"This is one of them." Yugi said.

"Well, try not to let it get to you too much. It wasn't your fault, and there isn't anyone that is going to say it is." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I guess so. Thanks for listening." Yugi said.

"Any time." Yami said.

The two then headed back to the living room.

"Where did you two disappear to?" Seto asked.

"We both had to go to the bathroom at the same time." Yami said, not wanting Yugi to have to explain the real reason.

"Oh. Okay." Joey said.

Yugi and Yami sat back down.

'I'm glad that Yami told them that. Serenity didn't mean to upset me, and I know she would feel guilty if she knew. She doesn't need to feel guilty.' Yugi thought.

* * *

That night, or early Saturday morning, Yugi and Yami were sitting in their room.

"Well, it doesn't surprise me that it's after four in the morning, and we're just getting to bed." Yugi remarked.

"With Joey, it doesn't surprise me." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"Yugi, listen. About what you said earlier." Yami said.

Yugi looked over at him.

"I just wanted to say one thing. Don't let it upset you. By choice, you are a virgin. Just because of what happened doesn't change that." Yami said.

"I know. I just don't know how to react to questions like that." Yugi said.

"Well, you'll get there one day, Yugi." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Yami. I really appreciate you listening to all this." Yugi said.

"You don't have to thank me, Yugi. I'm glad to do it." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "You're really a great friend." Yugi said.

"I'm glad that you think so, Aibou." Yami said. 'Especially since I didn't act like a real friend before.' Yami thought, still regretting his actions in those months.

Yugi let out a yawn.

"I guess we do need to get some sleep." Yami said.

"Yeah. We're both practically asleep as it is, and I know that Grandpa wants us home by one or two." Yugi said.

"We'll be lucky if we're awake by then as late as it is." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Maybe we had better tell Joey that we can't have anymore sleepovers until after school ends. We really can't be doing this all the time." Yugi said.

"I agree with you." Yami said.

"In any case, let's go to bed." Yugi said.

The two then lay down in the bed.

"And Yugi. If you have a nightmare, wake me up." Yami said.

"Sure thing." Yugi said.

The two soon fell asleep.

During the night, Yami ended up wrapping his arms around Yugi and pulling him close.

Yugi curled up against Yami, rather content with the new position.

Yugi didn't have any nightmares that night.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I don't own _Ironman 2 _or _Transformers_.

Next: Can't really say without giving it away.

R&R.


	30. Trust

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 30- Trust

"YES! WE ARE DONE!" Joey exclaimed, jumping up in the air in his excitement.

"I'M WITH YOU, MAN! FREEDOM!" Tristan agreed.

The two friends high-fived each other.

Heba watched them, a little shocked. "You know, I honestly didn't think that it was possible for anyone to act this excited." Heba said. He thought a moment before he added, "And I didn't think that anyone could make such fools of themselves."

Atemu chuckled. "Heba, you've been around them for nearly two and a half months. Surely you had to realize that these two are the fools of the group." Atemu said as he wrapped an arm around his boyfriend's waist.

"I knew that much, Até. I just didn't think that they would act like this." Heba said.

Yugi laughed. "They've always been like this, Heba." Yugi said.

"Yeah. You haven't seen half the foolish things they tend to do." Yami added.

"HEY!" Joey and Tristan exclaimed, insulted.

Seto rolled his eyes. "Please, puppy. You know that a lot of the things that you do are stupid." Seto stated.

"Comes on, Seto! You're supposed to be on my side!" Joey said.

"Not when someone is just stating the truth." Seto said.

"Yeah. You two do a lot of stupid things that the rest of us wouldn't do." Tea said.

"Marik and Bakura do stupid things, too." Tristan pointed.

"WE DO NOT!" Bakura and Marik growled, glaring daggers at Tristan.

Tristan slowly inched his way behind his girlfriend, wary of the two Yamis who were currently pissed at him.

"No, you just do dangerous things." Ryou said.

"Which translates to stupid." Malik added.

"Malik!" Marik whined.

"Come on, Marik. You know that a lot of the stunts that you and Bakura pull are things that could get the two of you hurt, too." Malik said.

"But-" Marik started.

"He's right. One of these days, these pranks are going to backfire on you, and you're going to be the ones that get hurt, and I won't feel the least bit sorry for you." Ryou said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"So, what are we going to do to celebrate the end of the school year?" Serenity asked.

The group had no answer.

"Well, we could always go out and to something." Joey said.

"Joey, you are going to have to define something." Yugi said.

"I don't know." Joey said.

"Well, why don't we just take it easy today? We can do something tomorrow." Atemu said.

"Not a bad idea." Tristan agreed.

"Nothing early. I am not getting out of bed before twelve." Joey stated.

"We'll see." Seto muttered.

"You'll be at work. What does it matter to you?" Joey asked.

Seto just glared at his boyfriend.

"He's right, Seto. You'll go to work at six in the morning, and we'll be lucky to see you before six that night." Mokuba stated.

The rest of the group laughed.

"Anyway, we can figure it out later." Yugi said.

The group split up and went to their separate homes.

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba all headed for the Game Shop.

"So, what do you think Joey is going to suggest we do to celebrate?" Heba asked.

"I swear that if he suggests going to mall, I am going to kill him. I am sick of going to the mall." Yami said.

"Yami, it's not like we go to the mall everyday." Yugi pointed out.

"We go there at least twice a week! I am completely sick of it!" Yami said.

"Well, why don't you make the suggestion then?" Atemu asked.

"The problem is that whatever we do needs to be something that everyone will enjoy." Yami stated.

"Meaning that what you would like to do involves playing Duel Monsters." Atemu said, knowing his brother well.

"Right and that would leave Tristan, Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba without much to do." Yami said.

"Well, Mokuba plays some, just not as much as we do. Tristan doesn't mind playing, and neither does Tea, but I know Serenity doesn't play much. Besides, Tristan and Tea don't really care about playing Duel Monsters all that much." Yugi said.

"So what can we do?" Heba asked.

"The arcade." Yugi said.

"You know, that's a great idea." Yami said.

"Yeah. Everyone has something that they like to do at the arcade." Atemu said.

"And we don't go to it a lot." Heba said.

The four arrived at the Game Shop and went in through the shop portion of the house.

Solomon looked up and smiled when he saw them. "Good afternoon, boys. How was the last day of school?" Solomon asked.

"It was fine, Grandpa. It was just a half day, so there wasn't much to it except for our last few exams." Yugi said.

"Well, that's good to hear." Solomon said.

"Joey and Tristan were making fools of themselves in their excitement." Heba said.

"That's not a surprise." Solomon said.

"That's for sure." Yami said.

"Anyway, go on in the house and fix yourselves some lunch." Solomon said.

"What about you?" Yugi asked.

"I already ate. Also, I'll be leaving in the morning to go to Tokyo." Solomon said.

"Right. The convention about new games." Yugi said.

"Exactly. I won't be back until Saturday." Solomon said.

"Do you want us to run the shop?" Atemu asked.

"No. You enjoy your first day of summer vacation. One day won't hurt. Now, go eat lunch." Solomon said.

The three boys went into the house. They took their things up to their rooms before they went back down to the kitchen.

"So, what do we eat?" Heba asked.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Why don't we just eat some sandwiches?" Yugi asked.

No one argued with that.

Yugi made himself peanut butter and grape jelly. Yami fixed himself ham and cheese. Heba fixed bologna and cheese. Atemu fixed peanut butter and strawberry jelly.

Once the four had eaten, they walked into the living room.

"So, what now?" Atemu asked.

"Well, we did get that new fight game for the Playstation 3. We could always play that." Yugi said.

"Only two can play." Yami pointed out.

"Actually, in this game, you can have tag team fights. Virtually, four people play with two on a team, and all four play at a time. You work together to defeat your opponents." Yugi explained.

"Now that sounds like a good idea." Atemu said.

Yugi put the game in, and the four started playing.

* * *

Later that night, after everyone had gone to their rooms, Yugi was sitting on his bed, doing some thinking.

'I think that it's time I told him.' Yugi thought.

Finally, Yug reached over to his nightstand and took out a notebook and pen. He opened the notebook to a fresh page and started writing.

_June 2_

_Well, it's been almost a year since I was raped, and things have changed a lot for me. After everything happened, my life took a downward spiral on all levels. I wasn't myself at all. I was plagued by constant nightmares that were extremely graphic. I had constant flashbacks of that night, and the simplest things caused me to remember that night. I didn't actually take care of myself because I didn't eat or sleep like I was supposed to. Atemu and the others tried to make sure that I did, but they weren't as good at it as they thought. Nothing was okay for me then. I felt like I had nothing because I did not have the one thing that I needed most. I didn't have Yami._

_Now, Yami is back in my life. So are all the others, but the one that I'm thankful for the most is Yami. I don't know that I could deal with it if he wasn't in my life. Over the last two months, Yami has done everything in his power to make things up to me. Sometimes, it seemed like he was smothering me, but it was nice to have his concern. Remembering the pain that I went through when he was ignoring me, I don't mind Yami smothering me so much because I know he does it because he's worried about me. In some ways, I think Yami and I have become even closer than we were before. Nearly losing each other for good really got to both of us. Yami's been working hard to again my trust back and I know that he has earned it. I trust Yami completely now. I don't doubt him in any way. Now, I know that I need to tell him that._

Yugi closed the notebook once he had finished writing. He then put the notebook and pen back up.

Yugi lie back down on the bed and let a small smile form on his lips. 'Yami may not realize it yet, but he has earned back my trust.' Yugi thought.

Yugi rolled over on his side and rummaged around his nightstand until he found the necklace that he had given Yami all that time ago. And the necklace Yami had returned to him and asked him to keep until he had regained Yugi's trust.

~Flashback~

_Yugi reached into his pocket and pulled the necklace that Yami had returned to him out. "Yami, why did you return this to me?" Yugi asked._

"_Because I didn't deserve to have it. You gave that to me when our friendship was string. It was a symbol of our friendship and of the trust that you had in me. I didn't feel that I deserved to have it now." Yami said._

_Yugi held it out to Yami. "I want you to take it back, Yami." Yugi said._

_Yami looked at Yugi for a moment before he came to a decision. "No." Yami said._

"_Why?" Yugi asked._

"_Because I don't deserve it. Yugi, if I ever manage to regain your trust, then give it back to me. I'll know then." Yami said._

"_Are you- sure?" Yugi asked._

"_Yes, Yugi. Hold on to it." Yami said._

"_Well, okay." Yugi said, putting the necklace back up._

~End Flashback~

'I'm going to give it back to Yami tomorrow. He needs to know that I do trust him again. I know that he won't object to us spending time alone tomorrow. I think he wants to spend more time alone with me because he still feels guilty about how he treated me, but I know that he's not spending time with me just out of guilt. He's doing it because he genuinely wants to.' Yugi thought.

Yugi then laid the necklace on the nightstand and cut off his light before he went to sleep.

* * *

The following day, the gang had agreed to meet at the arcade around one that afternoon.

That meant that Yugi had a while before they had to meet since it was nine-thirty.

Yami was sitting in the living room reading a book.

Yugi walked into the living room and said, "Yami?"

Yami looked up and smiled at his Hikari. "Yes, Yugi?" Yami asked.

"Listen, Yami. I was wondering if maybe you and I could go out for a little bit before we meet up with the others. Just the two of us." Yugi said.

"Sure. If you want to." Yami said as he marked his place in his book and set it aside.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

"Not a problem." Yami said as he stood up. "Should we let Atemu and Heba know?" Yami asked.

"Do you really want to wake Atemu up?" Yugi asked.

Yami grimaced. "Not really. I know that Atemu would be yelling if we woke him up for a reason that has nothing to do with an emergency." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I already wrote a note for them. It's on the refrigerator. I'm sure they'll see, and if they don't, they'll call one of us." Yugi said.

"Okay. Let me go and grab my phone." Yami said. He then headed upstairs.

'I really hope that this goes as well as I have planned.' Yugi thought.

Yami then came back downstairs. "So, where are we going?" Yami asked.

"Well, I was thinking the park, if that's okay with you." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Yami said.

The two then left the house and headed for the park that was nearby.

The park was virtually empty.

There were only a few people there, and it was obvious that they were there to do exercise either by walking, jogging, or running.

The two walked around the park until they came to the lake that was on the east side of the park. They then sat down on the benches.

"I never realized that it was so peaceful here at a time like this." Yami said.

"That's because school's out and kids are sleeping in." Yug said.

Yami smiled. "Yeah. We're not ones that are going to sleep in late like some people do." Yami remarked.

"Like Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Well, I wasn't going to say any names, but yes, like Joey." Yami admitted.

Yugi smiled. "Well, I would come out here at this time some Saturdays when you would sleep in. I enjoy it because you feel like you really are alone in the park." Yugi said.

"Especially here." Yami said.

The area that they were in was hidden partly by bushes, so it was easy to feel like there was no one else around.

Yugi hadn't been sure about how to go about telling Yami, but he decided that the direct approach would be the best thing to do. "Yami, there's a reason that I wanted to come out this morning." Yugi said.

"There is?" Yami asked, looking over at his Hikari in surprise.

Yugi nodded. "Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy spending time with you, but there was something that I wanted to talk to you about, and I wanted to do it alone, so I figured that I'd better tell you before we met up with the others." Yugi said.

"You know, we didn't have to meet the others. We could have done whatever you wanted." Yami said.

"No, Yami. I want to go with the others, but this was something that I needed to do alone with you." Yugi said.

"Okay. What did you want to talk about?" Yami asked, looking at his Hikari curiously.

Yugi reached into his pocket. "Mostly, I wanted to return this." Yugi said. He pulled the necklace out of his pocket and held it out to Yami.

Yami had a look of pure shock on his. "But Yugi-this is-I don't-" Yami wasn't sure how to respond to this.

Yugi gave Yami a sweet smile. "Yami, I want you to have it back." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I said not to give it back until I had gained your full trust back, if I ever did." Yami said.

"I know. That's why I'm giving it back." Yugi said.

Yami looked even more shocked.

"Yami, you've earned by trust back and then some. You deserve it, Yami. I know that I can trust you completely now, and I do." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I don't know what to say." Yami said.

"You could say that you'll take it back." Yugi said.

Yami smiled and took the necklace from Yugi. "Of course I will." Yami said. He reached over and took the necklace from Yugi before he put it around his neck. "I honestly didn't think I would ever fully regain your trust." Yami said.

"Well, you have." Yugi said. He smiled and said, "I realized it over the last few days, and I knew that it was time for you to have it back."

Yami then pulled Yugi into a tight hug. "Thank you, Aibou. You have no idea how much this means to me." Yami said.

Yugi smiled as he hugged Yami back. "Believe me, Yami. It means as much to me as it does to you." Yugi said.

Yami then pulled away from Yugi. "Thank you, Yugi. I really don't know what else to day." Yami said.

"Don't say anything, Yami. You don't have to. You've more than earned my trust back." Yugi said.

"Even after what I did?" Yami asked.

"Yami, that's in the past, and that's where I want to leave it. We've gotten past that." Yugi said.

"You're right." Yami agreed.

"You have to admit, we're closer than we were before." Yugi said.

"Yeah. We are." Yami agreed. 'Although not as close as I would like for us to be.' Yami thought, making sure that the thought didn't escape through the link.

Yami still loved Yugi, and he truly wanted to have a relationship with Yugi, but he wasn't about to press his luck. He knew that he was lucky just to have Yugi as a friend, so he decided that he would make sure things stayed that way.

The two stayed there at the park for a while longer just talking before they finally went back to the Game Shop, where Atemu and Heba were eating breakfast.

"So, enjoy the walk?" Heba asked.

"Yes. We did, Heba." Yami answered.

Only Yugi understood the real meaning behind Yami's answer.

* * *

~The arcade~

The group of friends had met up at the arcade at one as they had promised.

"Okay! Let's have some fun!" Joey said.

Tristan looked over at Joey. "Racing?" Tristan asked.

"Right behind you." Joey said.

The two then headed off to one of the racing games.

Seto then turned to Yami. "How about a duel?" Seto asked, referring to the dueling platform that was set up to one side.

Yami smirked. "Sure thing. I never get tired of kicking your ass in a duel, Seto." Yami said, knowing the remark would get Seto worked up.

Seto glared at Yami. "One of these days, I am going to defeat you. Mark my words." Seto said.

"You say that every time I turn around." Yami said.

"And it'll be true one day!" Seto snapped.

"Just go duel." Serenity said.

The two went toward the dueling platform.

Serenity and Mokuba went off to play their own game.

The others slowly did the same.

Tea noticed the dancing game was opened. She turned to Yugi and said, "Hey, Yugi. Want to play with me?" Tea asked, gesturing to the game.

Yugi smiled. "Sure thing, Tea." Yugi said.

Out of the whole group, Yugi was the only one that managed to keep up with Tea on that game. He had beaten her at it a few times.

The two headed up to the dance game.

Seto was looking over his cards to make his next move when he noticed Yugi and Tea. "Hey, Yami. Looks like Yugi's about to dance." Seto said.

Yami looked and saw that Tea and Yugi were about to start the game. "What do you expect? Yugi's the only one that can keep up with Tea on that game." Yami said.

The two then went back to their game.

Yugi and Tea started their game. Both were excellent dancers, and they were able to perform the complicated dance moves that they were supposed to do.

Tea watched Yugi from the corner of his eyes. 'Yugi's gotten even better. I forgot how good Yugi was at this.' Tea thought.

A crowd started to form to watch Yugi and Tea as they played the game.

Among the crowd was all of their friends.

Yami and Seto finished their duel and joined their friends.

"Wow! I don't think that I've ever seen anyone dance this good! They're great!" one guy in the crowd said.

"No kidding. What are they? Professional dancers?" another guy asked.

Yami watched rather amazed. 'I didn't realize that Yugi had become so good at that game. He's just as good as Tea.' Yami thought.

The game ended in a tie.

"I don't think that we've ever tied in the game, Yugi." Tea said, looking surprised.

"I know. I guess no one won this time around." Yugi said.

The sudden clapping startled them both, and when they noticed that they had an audience watching them, both became rather embarrassed and blushed at the attention that they were receiving. The two walked to rejoin their friends.

"Quite the crowd you two drew." Tristan said.

"Oh knock it off." Tea said, hitting Tristan in the arm.

"You two were amazing up there. I didn't realize that you were able to dance that well, Yug." Joey said, looking at Yugi.

Yugi blushed again. "I can't help it that I dance well, Joey." Yugi said.

"Who taught you?" Mokuba asked.

"No one, actually. I sort of learned on my own, and no, I don't practice all the time." Yugi said.

"You were great out there, Yugi." Ryou said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

The group then went back to playing their games.

Yami and Atemu started to play a game of table hockey.

"That dance was pretty incredible." Atemu said as he knocked the puck to Yami's side.

"I know. I knew that Yugi was able dance well, but I didn't realize that he was able to dance that well." Yami said, knocking the puck back to the other side.

"I'm sure you liked it." Atemu said, knocking the puck back.

"He's good at dancing. What can I say?" Yami asked, knocking the puck back and into the slot.

Atemu got it out and started the game back. "Come on, Yami. You know exactly what I'm talking about." Atemu said.

Yami groaned. "Let's not have this conversation again." Yami said.

"But-" Atemu started.

"No, Atemu. I am not going to tell Yugi anything. I'm lucky that I have him back in my life, so forget it." Yami said.

"Fine." Atemu said.

The game ended with Yami winning by one point.

The two walked off.

Atemu then noticed the necklace that Yami was wearing. "Yami, when did you get the necklace back?" Atemu asked.

Yami glanced down. "Oh. Yugi gave it to me when we went to the park this morning." Yami said.

"Really?" Atemu asked.

Yami nodded.

"I thought that you told Yugi not to give it back until you had fully regained his trust." Atemu said.

"I did." Yami answered.

"But-" Atemu started before he realized it. "You mean-" Atemu started.

"Yeah. Yugi told me that I had earned it. Trust me. I was just as surprised as you are. I thought that I would never get this back." Yami said.

"Just don't take it for granted or do anything to break his trust again." Atemu said as warning.

Yami shook his head. "Atemu, after all that has happened, there is no way that I am going to do anything to put Yugi's trust in me in danger, and I am certainly not taking it for granted." Yami assured him.

Atemu nodded. "Just make sure that you stick to that." Atemu said.

"I will." Yami said.

The two then rejoined their friends.

* * *

After staying at the arcade for a while, the group went over to Burger World to get something to eat.

Everyone got their usual except Joey, who got two of everything.

"Joey, how in the world can you eat all that food?" Tea asked shocked at the amount of food that Joey had.

Joey shrugged. "I'm hungry, and I won't waste anything. You should know that I'm not going to waste food." Joey said.

"No. You never leave a scrap behind. That's why we don't have to worry about leftovers at the mansion." Seto said.

"I'm still a growing boy." Joey said.

The whole group shook their heads.

"You might want to watch it, Seto. You might end up with a fat boyfriend before you know it." Bakura said, snickering.

Joey glared at him. "I do exercise." Joey retorted.

"Sure. At night." Marik said.

Joey turned red.

"Stay out of it. What we do at home is not your concern." Seto said, glaring murder at the other two Yamis.

"It's the truth, though." Atemu said.

Seto glared at Atemu, too.

"Okay. On to another subject. Way too much info." Tristan said.

The group then started to talk about other things.

* * *

Late that night, the Game Shop was dark as the four boys there had already gone to bed after watching a movie that night.

Yugi, however, was woken up by something.

"ATEMU!"

Yugi jerked up and wondered what that was. "It sounded like Heba, but-" Yugi started.

"AH! ATEMU!" Heba cried again.

Yugi was horrified. "Oh, good grief! Don't they believe in silencing spells?" Yugi asked. He pulled his pillow in hopes that it would help block the noise.

It didn't.

After five minutes of listening, Yugi got up and left his room. 'Only one thing to do.' Yugi thought. He opened the door to Yami's room and walked into the room.

Yami was sound asleep, a small smile on his face.

Yugi hated to wake him.

"GREAT RA! HEBA!"

Yugi reached out and shook Yami. "Yami, please wake up." Yugi said.

Yami roused slowly. He looked and saw Yugi by the bed. "Yugi, are you all right? Did you a have nightmare?" Yami asked, sitting up.

"No, but I might." Yugi said.

"Why?" Yami asked.

"HEBA!"

"That's why." Yugi said.

"I can't believe that they didn't put up a silencing spell." Yami muttered.

"Yami, for the sake of my sanity, please put one up. I won't sleep otherwise." Yugi said.

"Atemu!" Heba said in shocked.

"Right." Yami said. He then put up a silencing spell on Atemu and Heba's room. "That should do it." Yami said.

"Thank goodness. I am probably going to have nightmares now." Yugi said.

"Nightmares about our brothers going at it?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. I so didn't need to get woken up by that." Yugi said, rubbing his eyes.

"We'll have to tell Atemu to start putting up a silencing spell before they do anything from now on." Yami said.

"I'm just glad that Grandpa's not here. I think that he would have committed murder. Thanks." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Yami said.

Yugi then headed back to his room.

* * *

The next morning, a rather happy looking Atemu and a limping Heba walked into the kitchen.

Yugi looked up and glared at them both.

"What?" Heba asked.

"From now on, put up a silencing spell **before **you decide to have sex!" Yugi snapped.

Heba turned red and hid behind Atemu. "You heard?" Heba asked.

"Vividly. I didn't want to be woken up by that." Yugi said.

"We heard until I put a silencing spell on the room." Yami said.

"Sorry, Yugi." Atemu said, grinning sheepishly.

"Just be thankful that Grandpa wasn't here." Yugi said.

"Yeah." Heba said.

"Just start putting up those spells." Yugi said.

"We will, Yugi. I'll make sure of it." Heba said quickly, embarrassed that his brother had heard them.

"Let's say that we never speak of this again." Yami said.

"Sure." Atemu said.

Yugi then started to make pancakes for their breakfast, and all four never planned to mention this conversation again.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Can't say.

R&R.


	31. Declaration

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 31- Declaration

Yugi was sitting in another session with Dr. Grey.

"So, how have you been doing, Yugi?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi smiled. "I'm fine. I haven't been having nightmares lately, and I don't have flashbacks that much, either." Yugi said.

"And when you have the nightmares or flashbacks, how graphic are they?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Not really graphic. And when I wake up, I don't get really upset or cry like I used to. Most of the time, I am able to go back to sleep." Yugi said.

"Do you talk to anyone about them?" Dr. Grey asked.

"I talk to Yami about them mostly just because I know that he gets worried when I keep my feelings bottled up. I still write about them in my journal, but there's not much to say." Yugi said.

"That's good. You are doing much better then. Is there anything else?" Dr. Grey asked.

"I guess I just get upset at times because when I think about people saying that they were virgins until the first time they are with someone willingly, and I can't say that. It just makes me upset at times." Yugi said.

"How upset?" Dr. Grey asked.

"I get upset and cry sometimes." Yugi admitted.

"Have you talked to someone else about this?" Dr. Grey asked.

"I've talked to Yami about it. He told me that as long as I see myself as a virgin, then I am one. He says that because I didn't choose it, that I haven't really had sex before. I can see Yami's reasoning." Yugi said.

"So can I, and he's right. As long as you see yourself as that, then that's what is true for you." Dr. Grey said.

"I'm getting to thatpoint. I don't get as upset when I think about it now, although it does still bother me." Yugi said.

"It sounds like Yami is the one that you're talking to about a lot of things right now." Dr. Grey stated.

"Yeah. I guess so." Yugi agreed.

"How is that going?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Well, I have told Yami that I do completely trust him again, and I do. He's earned it back." Yugi said.

"And for the other part?" Dr. Grey asked.

"What other part?" Yugi asked.

Dr. Grey sighed. "Yugi, we discussed a while back that you were in love with Yami. It didn't take much for me to figure that out. Now, have those feelings changed over time?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi looked down before taking a deep breath. "No. Those feelings haven't changed at all. If anything, they've only grown stronger over these last few months." Yugi said. He then looked out the window. "I didn't think that it was possible to love him anymore than I already did, but I do." Yugi said.

Dr. Grey smiled. "Yugi, this isn't professional advice I'm giving. This is personal advice. I think that you need to tell Yami how you feel about him." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi shook his head. "We've just gotten back to being good friends. I don't want to take the chance that I'll mess that up." Yugi said.

"Yugi, you told me that you thought that Yami loved you at the time. Do you think that that has changed?" Dr. Grey asked.

"I could have been wrong." Yugi said.

"Yugi, what do you honestly believe? What do you believe in your heart to be true, not what you're trying to convince yourself is true." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi thought about that for a long moment. "I honestly believed that he loved me. And I honestly think that he still does." Yugi said.

"I see." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi rubbed his forehead. "I also think that if I'm right, Yami's never going to make a move because of what happened to me and because of how strained our friendship had become. He'll be too afraid of ruining it." Yugi said.

"It sounds like you two have the same fears." Dr. Grey said.

Yugi gave her a strained smile. "Yeah. I guess so." Yugi agreed.

"Yugi, I want you to be honest with me, and no, you don't have to answer this. It doesn't have anything to do with our therapy session. Do you want to have a real relationship with Yami?" Dr. Grey asked.

Yugi didn't have to take time to think about his answer. He already knew the answer to that question. "Yes. I do want a real relationship with him. It's all I've wanted for a long time." Yugi answered quietly.

"Yugi, do you think that you could ever be truly happy without Yami?" Dr. Grey asked.

"No." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I really think that you need to tell Yami how you feel about him. I think that it would do you both good to know the truth." Dr. Grey said.

"How can I, though?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, I know that you're afraid he might not feel the same way, but-" Dr. Grey started.

"No." Yugi said, interrupting her. "That's not what I meant. How can I start a relationship with him, if he wants one, given my past?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, he won't hold that against you." Dr. Grey said.

"I know that, too. It's just, I'm still-" Yugi trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Dr. Grey then understood what it was that Yugi was trying to tell her. "The physical aspect of a relationship still scares the daylights out of you." Dr. Grey said.

"Yeah." Yugi said.

"Yugi, if Yami really does love you, then he's not going to push anything. He will wait for you to be ready for every level of the physical aspect." Dr. Grey said. She smiled. "In truth, judging from what you've told me about Yami, I think that he'll just be happy to have the chance with you. Most likely, he thinks that he doesn't have a chance with you now." Dr. Grey said.

"I still don't know." Yugi said, unsure.

"Just think about it." Dr. Grey encouraged.

"I will." Yugi promised.

* * *

Heba was sitting in the living room watching TV when Yugi got home from his therapy session.

"Hey, Heba." Yugi said as he sat down on the couch by his brother.

"How was the session?" Heba asked.

"It was fine, although we talked less about the rape and more about my love life." Yugi said.

"Or lack there of." Heba said.

Yugi glared at his brother.

Heba help up his hands. "It's the truth, Yugi. You don't have one." Heba said.

Yugi sighed and leaned back against the chair. "Dr. Grey thinks that I should tell Yami how I feel about him." Yugi said.

"Finally!" Heba said.

Yugi looked over at his brother, shocked.

"Yugi, someone needed to tell you to go for it. I mean, I can tell that you're still deeply in love with Yami." Heba said.

"It's not that easy, Heba." Yugi said.

"Yeah. It is. You tell Yami that you're in love with him." Heba said.

Yugi covered his face. "I just don't know if it's right, though. I mean, for all I know, Yami doesn't see me as more than a friend now, if he ever saw me as more than that in the first place." Yugi said.

Heba rolled his eyes. 'Yeah. Right. Yami's just like a lovesick puppy.' Heba thought.

Yugi glanced over. "Please tell me Yami isn't here now and can hear this conversation?" Yugi asked.

"No, Yugi. Yami's not here. Atemu and Yami decided to have a brother's afternoon out." Heba said.

"Good." Yugi said, sighing in relief.

"Yugi, I'm the first one to admit that when all this went down, I would have loved to have ripped him limb from limb." Heba said.

"I know. From what Malik and Ryou said, your methods of torture would have put Bakura and Marik to shame." Yugi said.

Heba shrugged. "I was pissed." Heba said.

"I noticed." Yugi said.

"Anyway, I was still pretty mad at him, even though he didn't know anything until he was told. It wasn't an excuse, and honestly, he surprised me when he didn't try to excuse it. He took responsibility for his actions, and he definitely showed that he wasn't afraid to accept the consequences of his actions." Heba said.

"Heba, please get to the point." Yugi said.

"Yugi, I honestly think that you should tell Yami how you feel." Heba said.

Yugi sighed. "I just don't know, Heba." Yugi said.

Heba reached over and placed his hand on top of Yugi's hand. "Yugi, I know that you're still scared about this, but I think that you need to tell Yami about this. You're scared over nothing. Believe me. It will do you good to tell Yami how you feel." Heba said.

"Heba, what if I was wrong in the first place, and he never loved me? What if he doesn't feel the same way? What if-" Yugi started.

"Yugi, I swear that if the words "he doesn't think I'm good enough because of I was raped" come out of your mouth, I am going to hurt you." Heba said, glaring at his brother.

"How did you-" Yugi started.

"Because I know you." Heba retorted.

"Do you think he feels the same way?" Yugi asked.

'Without a doubt.' Heba thought. "Yugi, that's something that you need to talk to him about. You and Yami need to talk about this." Heba said.

"And if he doesn't feel the same?" Yugi asked.

"It won't change a thing. He won't want to lose you as a friend." Heba said. 'Besides, that lovesick puppy isn't going to turn you down. He'll jump at the chance.' Heba thought.

Yugi rubbed his head. "I still don't know." Yugi said.

"Yugi, just tell him. You'll know once and for all how he feels, and you can stop stressing over this." Heba said.

"I suppose you're right." Yugi agreed. He was still worried about one thing. "I'm just not sure that I can handle the physical aspect of it yet." Yugi said.

"And Yami would wait for you to be ready." Heba said.

"I know he would." Yugi said.

"Good." Heba said. He chuckled. "Yami would be too afraid to try anything because he knows that he would have a load of people after his head if he pushed things too far with Yugi." Heba said.

"Starting with you?" Yugi asked.

"Well, I think that Grandpa would be the one heading up the hunt with Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Ryou, and Malik right behind him." Heba said. He laughed and added, "With the gods of Egypt bringing up the rear."

"I guess you're right." Yugi said.

"Yugi, just tell Yami. You'll know, and there won't be a reason for you to be so stressed out anymore." Heba said.

Yugi nodded.

Heba then smiled. "Besides, there is no reason for Yami not to want to go out with you." Heba said.

"I appreciate that, Heba." Yugi said.

"And I mean it. Trust me. He could give you a list of reasons why he would want to." Heba said.

"If he feels that way." Yugi said.

'He's being really pessimistic over this.' Heba thought, getting annoyed.

"But I think you're right. I need to tell, if only to get it off my chest." Yugi said.

"Good." Heba said.

"Yami's done a lot for me throughout all this, and I really think that he loves me. I don't think that that has changed." Yugi said.

"Good." Heba said.

Yugi turned and looked at his brother. "Thanks for the advice, Heba." Yugi said.

"Anytime." Heba said with a smile.

Yugi leaned over and gave his brother a hug. "I don't know what I would do without you." Yugi said.

"I don't know what you would do, either." Heba said.

Yugi pulled away and glared at his brother. "That wasn't called for, Heba." Yugi said.

"I thought it was." Heba said.

Yugi slapped Heba playfully on the arm. "You know, you can be a pain in the ass." Yugi said.

"I know. Atemu tells me that all the time." Heba said.

"Heba! I didn't need to know that!" Yugi exclaimed.

Heba looked at his brother before he smirked. "You know, I think that you're more of a pervert than you let on, Yugi. I wasn't referring to anything sexual in that statement." Heba said.

Yugi shrugged. "I lived with Marik and Bakura for a while. What did you expect?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know." Heba said.

"Come on. Let's play a game." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Heba said.

The two then turned on the Playstation 3 and started to play a game together.

* * *

~That Night~

Atemu and Heba had gone out on date that night at Heba's insistence.

Atemu had wanted to just stay in and spend a nice, quiet evening at home with his boyfriend that night since he had been out all day with Yami.

However, Heba had said that he wanted to go out that night, so Heba, naturally, got his way when it came to Atemu.

The two were now walking toward the arcade."Heba, why did you want to come out tonight?" Atemu asked.

"What? You don't like going out with me anymore?" Heba asked, turning on the puppy-dog-eyes on his boyfriend.

Atemu hated the fact that Heba would turn those eyes on him at times. "Of course not, Heba. You know that. I just don't get why you wanted to go our night. A quiet night at home sounded really good to me." Atemu said.

Heba sighed. "I know, Atemu, and I promise that I will make it up to you. The truth is that I wanted to stay home, too." Heba said.

Atemu turned incredulous eyes on Heba. "Then why are we out?" Atemu demanded.

Heba rolled his eyes. "Yugi and I talked earlier. He told me that he plans on telling Yami how he feels about him." Heba said.

Atemu's draw dropped. "You mean, he's going to tell Yami that he-" Atemu stopped at Heba's nod. "I didn't think that Yugi would ever tell him." Atemu said.

"Well, his therapist told him that she thought he needed to, and I pushed him the rest of the way. I am tired of having a lovesick Yami around the house all the time." Heba said.

Atemu shook his head. "I don't believe it. And here Yami was afraid that Yugi would never want something like that." Atemu said.

Heba laughed. "I know." Heba said. He then turned serious. "We both knew that Yugi was the one that was going to have to make the first move. I mean, Yami wasn't going to risk everything." Heba said.

"I know." Atemu said.

"I'll be glad to get Yugi off my back now." Heba said.

"Meaning?" Atemu asked as they neared the arcade.

"Yugi is afraid that he was wrong about Yami loving him in the first place. He is also worried that he might have been right, but that Yami's feelings have changed." Heba said.

"That's a definite no." Atemu said.

"I know, but I wasn't about to tell Yugi that. Yami needs to be the one that tells him that." Heba said.

"I know." Atemu said.

"I'm just glad that things are finally going to work out for them. The entire group knows that Yugi and Yami are in love with each other. Hell, even Grandpa knows, and that is downright irritating." Heba said.

"But we also have to look at that fact that Yugi has been through a lot. He's more skittish about relationships right now, and it's harder for him." Atemu said as he slipped his arm around Heba's waist. "Besides, Yugi was having trouble admitting to Yami how he felt before this happened, so it's even harder now." Atemu said.

"Well, at least they're going to talk about this. They need to." Heba said.

"Yes, and when they do, we can finally stop going nuts over the fact that they keep dancing around each other." Atemu said.

Heba laughed. "Yeah. I know that Yugi will happy with Yami, and Yami will be happy with Yugi. I think that this is the best thing for the both of them." Heba said.

Atemu leaned over and kissed Heba on the cheek. "Just don't threaten Yami's life." Atemu said.

Heba smirked. "Sorry, Atemu, but it's a brother's prerogative to protect his sibling. And I have even more right since he is my only brother." Heba said.

Atemu sighed. "Yami had better watch it." Atemu said.

"I know he's better." Heba said.

* * *

Yami walked into the living room to find that Yugi was sitting on the couch. He walked over and joined him. "I tell you, Atemu is whipped." Yami said.

Yugi turned and looked at Yami with a raised eyebrow. "Meaning what?" Yugi asked.

"Well, when Atemu and I were out today, he mentioned that he was going to just spend a quiet evening at home with Heba, but Heba wanted to go out, and Atemu easily went along with it. Atemu won't ever say no to Heba." Yami said.

'So, Heba got Atemu to go out so that Yami and I could talk. I'll have to thank him or kill him. How this conversation goes will determine which.' Yugi thought. Yugi smiled before he said, "Well, you know that Heba's pretty much the one who controls their sex life." Yugi said.

"Yeah. He could easily cut everything off." Yami agreed.

"Of course, Atemu loved Heba and just wants him to be happy, so that could be why Atemu does what Heba wants, too." Yugi said.

"Maybe." Yami said.

Yugi decided he needed to get Yami to talk about something so that he could get the nerve to tell him the truth. "So, what did you and Atemu do today?" Yugi asked.

"Not much, really. We did go to the mall, and we both went to get some new clothes. We also went to a few other stores. We ate lunch, of course." Yami said.

"And gossiped about your Hikaris." Yugi said knowingly.

"I wouldn't call it gossip." Yami said defensively.

"Then what would you call it?" Yugi asked.

"Just discussing our Hikaris." Yami said.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "That's called gossiping, Yami." Yugi said.

"No, it's not. It's only gossip if you're saying something that you wouldn't say in front of them or something that you know that they don't want others to know. We discuss things that we would say in front of you and only discuss things that we know you would not mind us talking about." Yami protested, not looking at Yugi.

Yugi shook his head. "Did you do anything else?" Yugi asked.

"Not really. We did go and get ice cream, but not much else." Yami said.

"Well, it's good that you two were able to spend time together." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said.

Yugi bit his lip. He needed to tell Yami the truth about how he felt. He had to tell him before it did drive him nuts. Besides, his dreams lately had been centered around Yami, and they weren't bad dreams. Not bad dreams at all.

"Something on your mind?" Yami asked.

Yugi took a deep breath. "Yeah. There's something that I wanted to talk to you about." Yugi said, shifting nervously.

"Aibou, you know that you can tell me anything. I'm not going to get upset with anything that you tell me." Yami said.

Yugi nodded. "I know." Yugi said.

Yami leaned back. "Well, just say whatever it is." Yami said.

Yugi took another deep breath. "Yami, there's something that I've wanted to tell you for a while, but a lot of things stopped me from telling you, mostly my fear." Yugi said.

Yami waited patiently, wondering what Yugi was talking about.

"I know that I should have told you back then when I first realized it instead of waiting around, but I didn't, and I let things get worse." Yugi said.

Yami was confused.

"I knew this before you and Tea started dating, and I know I should have told you, but after you two started dating, I thought that I was wrong so I tried to forget about it, but it wasn't that easy, and I still haven't gotten past it." Yugi continued.

Yami frowned.

"I know you might not like this, and I know that you might not feel the same way, but after all this time, I need you to know. I don't know how much longer I can take this." Yugi said.

Yami sighed before he grabbed Yugi's face in his hands and forced Yugi to look at him.

Immediately, Yugi stopped talking and looked at Yami, swallowing lightly at the proximity of their faces, more specifically, their lips.

"Yugi, you're rambling. Please stop and just tell me what it is that you want to tell me." Yami said, confused.

Yugi was too frozen by how close Yami's face was to his, and he wasn't really able to think clearly at the moment.

"Yugi?" Yami prodded.

Yugi did the only thing he could. He leaned forward and kissed Yami.

Yami was beyond shocked at what Yugi had just done. Never in a million years did he think that Yugi would ever be kissing him. He let his hands fall from Yugi's face and to his side as he went into complete shock over the shock.

Yugi hadn't registered the thought that Yami wasn't kissing him back. He was happy just being able to kiss the one who held his heart.

Finally, Yami came to the conclusion that this was real and that he wasn't dreaming. With that knowledge, Yami raised his arms and pulled Yugi closer as he started to kiss Yugi back although Yami didn't attempt to deepen the kiss.

Yugi finally registered the fact that Yami was kissing him back, and that shocked him more than anything. He didn't think that Yami would.

Finally, the two broke the kiss.

There was silence for several moments.

Yugi then turned bright red at his bold actions. His point in trying to talk to Yami was to **tell **Yami he loved him, not **show him**. "Yami, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." Yugi said.

Yami was quiet a moment. He hadn't bothered to remove his arms from around Yugi. "Why, Yugi?" Yami asked quietly.

Yugi swallowed thickly.

"Why did you kiss me?" Yami asked.

"Because I love you." Yugi said softly.

Yami's jaw dropped.

"I knew how I felt about you before you started dating Tea, but I was scared that you wouldn't feel the same way, so I thought it would be better to say nothing. Then I thought I had seen the signs that you did love me, but you started dating Tea, so I thought that I was wrong." Yugi said.

Yami's eyes softened. "You weren't wrong, Yugi." Yami said.

"But-" Yugi started.

Yami placed a finger over Yugi's lips. "No, Yugi. I did love you, but I feared the loss of our friendship if you didn't feel the same way, so I didn't say anything. When Tea asked me out, I agreed to go with her. We only dated a week because it didn't take much for me to figure out that I was never going to be able to let you go, and I knew that I couldn't hurt anyone else by pretending, especially Tea. My feelings for you never changed." Yami said.

"But why didn't you say something before now?" Yugi asked.

"Well, with what happened, I knew that you weren't ready to have any form of a relationship. You had told me that yourself." Yami said.

Yugi knew that he had.

"And I was sure that even if you had had any kind of feelings for me, those feelings would have changed after how I treated you over all those months." Yami said.

Yugi wasn't sure what to say.

Yami gave Yugi a gentle smile. "I guess you could say that I messed up badly. I shouldn't have acted the way I did." Yami said.

"Yami, no one could blame you-" Yugi started.

"I blame myself. I made a lot of mistakes, but after what Ishizu said, that just got worse." Yami said.

"Ishizu? What does she have to do with anything?" Yugi asked.

"A lot. Before you were set free from the control of my Shadow magic, we had gone to the museum. There was something that Ishizu needed to show us. It turned out to be a tablet from my time. It talked about the relationship between Yami and Hikari. In short, a Yami and a Hikari are supposed to remain together physically, spiritually, and romantically. All Yamis and Hikaris are destined to be together. When I started to date Tea, that started a lot of our problems." Yami said.

"Oh." Yugi said, looking down. He figured that Yami only was saying that he loved him because he was supposed to love him.

Yami placed a finger under Yugi's chin and forced Yugi to look up at him. "Yugi, don't think that. I didn't say I love you just because of that. I really did love you before I knew that. I was just too foolish to actually see that you did feel the same way about me." Yami said.

"You do?" Yugi nodded.

"Yugi, there's no reason for me not to love you. You're everything that I could want in a person. Don't ever doubt that." Yami said.

"After what happened, I wasn't sure that you would want anything to do with me in that way." Yugi said.

"Yugi, don't ever think that. I know what happened, and I do get angry when I think about it, but I get angry at what those men did and at the fact that I wasn't there when I should have been. Aibou, nothing could ever change the way that I feel about you." Yami said as he raised a hand to let it rest against Yugi's cheek.

Yugi leaned into the touch. "So, does that mean that you still love me?" Yugi asked.

Yami smiled gently. "Of course it does." Yami said.

"So, I guess I can ask you what I was trying to ask before I started rambling." Yugi said.

"And what is that?" Yami asked, hoping that it was the question that he had waited a long time to hear.

"Will you be my boyfriend, Yami?" Yugi asked.

Yami smiled at Yugi. "Of course I will, Yugi. It's what I want more than anything." Yami said.

"You just know that the, um, physical aspect of the relationship still scares me a little bit." Yugi said.

"I understand, Yugi. We'll move at your pace." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks." Yugi said.

Yami nodded before he leaned down and kissed Yugi gently.

Yugi was surprised by this, but was happy nonetheless.

Yami then broke the kiss. "You don't need to worry about anything, Yugi. I won't hurt you again, and we're going to take this relationship slow." Yami said.

Yugi nodded, glad that he had finally told Yami how he felt, but he was more happy about the fact that Yami loved him, too.

* * *

Atemu and Heba arrived back home to find that Yugi and Yami had already gone up to bed.

"Geez. They're in bed early." Atemu muttered.

Heba rolled his eyes. "Atemu, it's after midnight." Heba said.

Atemu glanced at the clock before he looked at his boyfriend rather sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't notice." Atemu said.

"For someone who didn't want to go out tonight, you sure kept us out late." Heba said.

Atemu shrugged. "Not my fault." Atemu said.

Heba rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's go to bed." Heba said.

A mischievous glint filled Atemu's eyes. "That's the best suggestion I've heard all night." Atemu said.

Heba gulped. "Just put up a silencing spell first. No need for Yami and Yugi to come in and kill us for waking them up." Heba said.

Atemu nodded before he chased Heba up to their room.

* * *

"YOU'RE DATING?" Heba exclaimed.

Yugi winced at the volume his brother's voice had taken. "Yes, Heba. We are." Yugi said.

Yami blinked. "Heba, you knew how I felt about Yugi." Yami said.

"You knew? And you let me stress out over that?" Yugi exclaimed.

Heba shrugged. "That was Yami's place to tell you, not mine." Heba said.

Yugi sighed.

"Well, I'm just glad that you two have finally gotten together. Having him," Atemu said, pointing at Yami, "acting all lovesick was about to drive us nuts."

"Who all knew?" Yugi asked.

"Our entire group." Heba said.

Yugi sighed. "So, everyone knew but us." Yugi said.

"Pretty much, and congrats." Atemu said.

"Thanks." Yami said.

"And if you ever hurt Yugi again, I swear that anything the gods could do to you would seem like a slap on the hand compared to what I would do." Heba threatened.

"Duly noted." Yami said, knowing that Heba would carry out his threat.

Yugi sighed. He wished that Heba didn't feel the need to threaten his new boyfriend.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I figure that everyone was getting anxious to see Yugi and Yami get together.

Next: The first date Yami and Yugi have.

R&R.


	32. First Date

Here's the next chapter.

Sorry for the delay, but there was a family emergency that prevented me from doing anything last night.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 32- First Date

It had been a week since Yugi and Yami had gotten together, and both were very happy that they were together.

Atemu and Heba were glad because they didn't have to deal with the fact that their brothers were in love and not telling each other.

Solomon was glad that Yugi was happy, although he did warn Yami once more about hurting Yugi again.

* * *

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba were walking into the mall to meet their friends for the day.

"I can't believe that we are that mall again." Yami groaned.

Yugi smiled and patted Yami's arm. "Come on, Yami. It's not that bad." Yugi said.

"It is to me." Yami grumbled.

Atemu snickered.

"This isn't funny." Yami muttered.

"It is to me. Come on, Yami. Most kids would love to go to the mall like we do." Atemu said.

"And most kids don't spend almost every week here." Yami retorted.

"Knock it off, you two." Heba said.

The four saw that all their friends were there.

"Hey, guys!" Tea said with a smile.

"Hey." Heba said.

Ryou instantly noticed something. "Yugi. Yami. Is there something you need to tell us?" Ryou asked with a sly smile.

Yugi blinked in surprise. "Like what?" Yugi asked.

"Like why you are holding hands?" Ryou said, pointing at their intertwined fingers.

Yugi and Yami glanced down, and Yugi blushed lightly. Neither had realized that they were holding hands.

"Are you two together?" Joey asked, shocked.

"Um, yeah." Yugi said.

"When did this happen?" Marik asked.

"About two days ago." Heba said.

"Thank Ra!" Atemu said.

Yami shot his brother a glare.

"Ha! Pay up!" Bakura said, smirking triumphantly.

Grumbling, Seto and Marik both handed over money to him.

"What was that about?" Yugi asked.

"Those three had a bet going. Bakura bet that you two would be together before the summer was over. Seto betted that you would be together by Christmas." Mokuba said.

"What about Marik?" Yami asked.

"He said it wouldn't be until after graduation." Malik said.

"You thought that we wouldn't be together until after our high school graduation." Yugi said.

"College." Malik said.

"You thought it would be that long?" Yami asked.

"At the rate you two were going, it seemed like a possibility." Marik said.

"And I won the bet." Bakura said, waving the money in the air.

Ryou shook his head. "Congratulations." Ryou said.

"Thanks." Yugi said as they sat down.

"So, what do we do?" Serenity asked.

The group was silent.

Seto groaned. "If someone doesn't say something, I swear that I am going to go and do my work." Seto said.

"Hey! Let's go see one of the new horror movies that came out." Tristan said with a smile.

"Yeah!" Joey agreed.

Yugi's face paled at that thought.

"No." Yami said firmly.

"Why not?" Tristan asked.

"Because you seem to have forgotten that Yugi is terrified of horror movies." Heba said.

"Oh. Yeah." Joey said.

"Why not one time?" Tea asked.

Yami glared at Joey and Tristan. "Care to tell her about it?" Yami growled.

Both gulped.

"Dare I ask what happened?" Heba asked.

"Well, not long after Yami got his body, Tristan and Joey thought it would be good for me to watch a night of nothing but horror movies." Yugi said. He shuddered at the memory.

"Yeah. They had him watching the _Friday the 13th_ movies." Yami said.

"Not our best idea." Joey admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"I had nightmares for two straight weeks of a psycho coming after me. I woke up screaming every night." Yugi said, shaking his head.

"Yami slept in the room with him because of them." Atemu added.

"Not to mention the fact that I was cowering under the bed after we finished the movies." Yugi said.

Tea glared at them. "What possessed you two to torture Yugi in such a way?" Tea demanded.

"We didn't think it would scare him that badly." Tristan said.

Yugi shook his head. "I really don't want to have nightmares again. I don't think Grandpa would appreciate it." Yugi said.

Joey shivered. "Man. After the yelling that Gramps gave us before, I never want to have to face that again." Joey said.

"Me, too." Tristan said.

"Was Grandpa that mad?" Mokuba asked.

"Mad does not describe what Grandpa was." Atemu said.

"Enraged?" Heba asked.

"Not even close." Yami said.

"A raging animal?" Serenity asked.

"Let's put it this way. I swear that there were cracks in the wall from how loud Grandpa was shouting." Yugi said.

Joey and Tristan shook their heads.

"Look. There's no reason for the rest of you to miss the movie. I know that all of you like horror movies." Yugi said.

"No, Yugi. We can all do something that we'll all like." Ryou said.

"No. It's fine. Go on." Yugi said.

"I'll stay with Yugi. You guys go on." Yami said.

"Sure?" Tea asked.

"Yeah. We can go and do something else." Yami said.

"Sure thing." Heba said.

The rest of the group headed for the movie.

"So, what should we do?" Yugi asked, turning to face his boyfriend.

"Well, I was thinking of something that doesn't involve the mall." Yami said, frowning.

"Okay. What?" Yugi asked.

Yami smiled sheepishly. "I really don't know." Yami said.

"Come on. We can figure it out later." Yugi said.

Yami nodded, and the two left the mall.

* * *

"I feel bad that we didn't do something that Yugi would enjoy doing." Tea said.

"Don't worry about it, Tea. Yugi will be fine." Heba said.

"It's better than Yugi being scared to death by the movie and having nightmares for a week." Heba said.

"I suppose." Tea said.

"I know that Yami doesn't mind." Atemu said.

"Why's that?" Serenity asked.

"Because it means that he gets to spend time alone with Yugi." Seto said.

All eyes turned to him.

Seto growled and said, "What?"

"How did you know?" Bakura asked.

"What else would Yami want to do right now? He's just gotten Yugi as a boyfriend, and he still wants to spend as much time with Yugi as he can. It doesn't take much to figure that out." Seto said, shrugging.

"He's right about that." Marik said.

"Okay. Let's go." Mokuba said.

The group went to the ticket window and bought their tickets for the movie before they bought their refreshments for the movie and headed into the theater.

* * *

Yami was glad to be out of the mall. He didn't mind going to the mall, but they went way too much in his opinion.

"So, now that we're out of the mall, what do you feel like doing?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know." Yami admitted.

Yugi sighed. "You're no help." Yugi said.

Yami glanced over at Yugi. "Well, I suppose we could always go home and get our swimming stuff. You know that Seto said that we could use his pool whenever we wanted." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "That is a good idea. It's hot enough to swim, so we might as well." Yugi agreed.

The two then headed home.

Solomon was surprised when Yugi and Yami arrived home. "What are you two doing home? And where are Atemu and Heba?" Solomon asked.

"Well, the others wanted to see one of the new horror movies that came out, and I wasn't about to subject Yugi to that." Yami said.

"Good. I don't want a repeat of the last time." Solomon said.

"Neither do I." Yugi said.

"What are you two going to do?" Solomon asked.

"We're going to go over to Seto's mansion and use the pool. He told us that we could use it whenever we wanted, even if he wasn't there." Yami said.

"All right." Solomon said.

Yugi and Yami headed upstairs to get their stuff before they left the house and headed over to the mansion.

The help at the mansion knew to let any of Seto's friends in and let them have the run of the house, so they didn't say anything when Yugi and Yami arrived.

The two then changed into their swim trunks before they headed outside to the pool.

"Well, it looks like we have the pool to ourselves for once." Yami said.

"Yeah. It'll be nice." Yugi said.

Yami then ran and jumped into the pool, splashing water all over Yugi.

"Hey!" Yugi exclaimed.

Yami surfaced and saw what he had done to Yugi. "Sorry, Aibou." Yami said.

"It doesn't matter, I suppose." Yugi said. He sat down at the edge of the pool and let his feet down into the water.

Yami swam over. "What are you thinking about, Aibou?" Yami asked.

"Well, I was thinking that this is a nice first date." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "I don't think that this could be considered a first date, Yugi." Yami said.

"Why not? We're alone, we're spending time together, and we're talking. Isn't that a date?" Yugi asked him.

"I guess it is." Yami admitted.

"See. We are on a date." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "Yes. I guess so." Yami said. He reached up and pulled Yugi down close enough that he could kiss him gently.

"I take it you like the idea of this being a date." Yugi said.

"Yes." Yami said. He then smirked. "Plus, I can do this." Yami said.

Before Yugi could react, Yami had wrapped his arms around Yugi and pulled Yugi down into the water as well.

Yugi came up coughing. "That wasn't funny, Yami!" Yugi said.

"I thought it was." Yami said.

Yugi then splashed Yami with water. "I didn't think it was." Yugi said.

Yami smirked. "I can change your mind." Yami said.

Yugi's eyes widened. "Yami! Don't!" Yugi exclaimed.

Yami went at Yugi.

With a squeal of excitement, Yugi swam away with Yami following him.

Yami grabbed Yugi by the ankle and dragged him underwater.

A moment later, Yugi came back up.

"You have to admit that this is fun." Yami said.

"Fine." Yugi said.

The two then swam for a while.

Yami was floating on his back just looking up at the sky. He was rather relaxed at the moment.

Then, something, or someone, grabbed Yami from under the water and pulled him underwater.

Yami was the one that came up coughing that time.

Yugi laughed.

"That wasn't funny!" Yami growled.

"You did to me." Yugi said, still laughing.

Yami mock glared at his Hikari.

Yugi was still laughing.

Yami couldn't stop the smile that spread over his lips. He loved Yugi's laughter, and he was glad that Yugi was able to laugh in such a carefree way with the past that Yugi had.

Yugi then swam over closer to Yami. "So, I don't think that this is a bad first date." Yugi said.

"Well, not exactly a conventional one." Yami stated.

"Maybe not, but I think that it was still a good one. I mean, not all first dates have to be about movies, dinner, or things like that." Yugi said.

Yami laughed. "A dinner at home and watching a DVD afterwards would be a good date to you." Yami said.

"Well, I do like the simple things in life." Yugi agreed.

Yami smiled. "I think that I might have to remember that at some point." Yami said.

"If you can get the house clear." Yugi said.

"Well, getting Atemu and Heba out of the house won't be a problem." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"And I think that Grandpa would leave us alone." Yami said.

Yugi nodded. "I suppose that would work." Yugi said. He smiled. "I suppose you might spring this on me as a surprise one day when I'm not expecting it." Yugi said.

"Exactly." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "I just gave you an idea for a date." Yugi said.

"Yep." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Well, it won't hurt for us to figure out things that we can do on dates." Yugi said.

"Yeah." Yami agreed.

The two had made their way back to the shallow end of the pool and were sitting on the steps now.

Yami leaned over to kiss Yugi.

Yugi kissed Yami back happily.

Yami slid his arms around Yugi's waist and pulled him closer. He then ran his tongue over Yugi's bottom lip. Yugi opened his mouth and let Yami slip his tongue inside. Yami started to roam around the inside of Yugi's mouth, mapping out every inch. Yugi moaned into the kiss, enjoying it.

The need for air forced them to break apart.

Yami then realized that he had overstepped his bounds. "Yugi, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Yami said, letting go of Yugi.

Yugi caught his breath. "Yami, you don't have to apologize for kissing me." Yugi said.

"I pushed it too far." Yami said.

"No, you didn't." Yugi said.

"Yes, I did. I know better, and I'm sorry. I should have done it. It own't happen again." Yami said

Yugi groaned. "Oh, for the love of Ra, Yami! You don't have to treat me like a broken record! If you push it too far, I'll let you know!" Yugi said.

Yami was shocked by this.

Yugi sighed. "I'm sorry, but I get sick of the way people treat me at times. You don't mean to, but all of you treat me like something broken and I'm not." Yugi said.

Yami was surprised. "I'm sorry, Yugi. I guess we didn't realize how we were treating you." Yami said.

"Yami, I understand why you are all careful with me, but it does get old." Yugi said. He then looked Yami in the eye. "And as far as we are concerned, I'll let you know when you overstep a bound, and you didn't now." Yugi said. He smiled. "And I enjoyed it." Yugi said.

"So, you wouldn't get upset if I kissed you like that again?" Yami asked.

"No, although I would prefer that we were alone and not in view of anyone." Yugi said.

"In other words, not in public." Yami said.

"Not for that kind. Besides, I don't think Seto would like to see us making out on his security cameras." Yugi said.

"Right." Yami agreed.

The two then went back to their swimming.

* * *

After the movie was over, everyone left the movie theater.

"That was awesome!" Joey said.

"Yeah. I loved it." Tristan agreed.

"I still don't see what they see in horror movies. They don't make that much sense to me." Serenity remarked.

"Join the club, Serenity. It doesn't make any sense to me, either." Tea said.

"So, just bear with it." Serenity said.

"Exactly." Tea said.

"Too bad Yami had to miss the movie." Bakura said, smirking.

"I'm sure that Yami was much happier spending time with Yugi." Atemu said.

"Speaking of whom, I wonder where they're at." Ryou remarked.

Seto snapped his phone shut. "They're at my home." Seto said.

Everyone stopped and turned to look at him.

"What?" Seto asked.

"What do you mean they're at the mansion?" Malik asked.

"I mean that they're at the mansion. They went over there and are using the pool." Seto said.

"They must have remembered that you said we could use the pool anytime we wanted, even if you weren't there." Heba said.

"Probably." Seto said.

Tea smiled. "You know, that sounds like an excellent idea." Tea said.

"Yeah! We should all go over there and go swimming." Serenity agreed.

"Okay. We can all go home and get our stuff before we head back to the mansion." Tristan said.

The group then left the mall and headed to their homes to get their stuff to go swimming.

* * *

Yugi and Yami had gotten tired of swimming and were now lying out in the lounge chairs in the sun.

"Yugi, you did remember to put on sunscreen, didn't you?" Yami asked.

"Yes, Yami. I did. I know that I burn if I don't put it on." Yugi replied.

"Just making sure. I know that you got burned the last time you forgot to put on sunscreen." Yami said.

"Trust me, Yami. I won't be making that mistake ever again." Yugi said.

Yami sat up and turned to face Yugi. "So, I suppose this has been an enjoyable first date." Yami said.

"I thought that it was." Yugi said.

"I know, although this wasn't exactly how I pictured our first date." Yami admitted.

Yugi smiled. "Well, you can always plan the one you pictured, and we can do it then." Yugi suggested helpfully.

Yami smiled. "I like that idea." Yami said. He then leaned forward and kissed Yugi.

Yugi started to kiss Yami back.

Before the kiss could progress any further, they both heard a loud shout.

"Hey! Yams! Yug!"

Yami groaned. "Joey." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "He does live here." Yugi said.

"Yeah. I guess the date is over." Yami said.

"Pretty much." Yugi agreed.

A moment later, Joey walked outside with his swim trunks on. "Hey, guys!" Joey said as he ran over.

"I take it that you thought swimming would be a good idea." Yugi said.

"We all did. The others are going to be over here soon." Joey said.

Joey then ran and jumped into the water.

Serenity and Mokuba walked out then.

Mokuba gave them a quick hello before he ran and joined Joey in the water.

Serenity smiled at the two. "Hey, guys." Serenity said.

"Hey. How was the movie?" Yami asked.

"According to the guys, it was good." Serenity said.

"Do you not like horror movies?" Yugi asked.

"Not at all, but they don't scare me." Serenity said.

"Well, if Bakura and Marik thought that it was good, then there was definitely a lot of people being killed in it." Yami said.

"Left and right." Serenity agreed.

Yami nodded. "I thought as much." Yami said.

Serenity then went into the water as well.

It wasn't long before the others started to arrive.

"So, you two decided to lounge around at a pool." Heba said.

"Not much else to do." Yami said.

"It sounded like such a good idea we all decided that spending the afternoon in the pool would be good." Atemu said.

"We noticed." Yugi said.

Atemu and Heba went on into the water.

"Well, at least we were alone for a while." Yugi said.

"Yeah." Yami agreed. He looked over at Yugi and said, "In any case, I think that I will take you out somewhere another day." Yami said.

"Looking forward to it." Yugi said, smiling at his boyfriend.

The two then decided to join their friends in the water, and the group had fun swimming for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Yugi was sitting in his room reading a book when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Yugi said, putting a bookmark in the book.

Heba walked in and walked over to the bed, sitting down. "So, how was the date with Yami?" Heba asked.

Yugi blushed lightly at that. "It was fine." Yugi said.

Heba smiled. "I figured that Yami would enjoy spending time with you much more than he would the movie." Heba said.

"It was fine, although I'm not sure that Yami wanted our first date to be simply swimming in the pool." Yugi said.

"So, he's probably going to be planning another date the way he wanted it done." Heba said.

"Probably. The good thing is that Yami knows that I like simple dates." Yugi said.

Heba laughed. "You'd still like the date if he took you to the most expensive restaurant in town." Heba said.

"I know, but there's no way that either one of us could pay for a dinner like that." Yugi said with a smile.

"I know. Atemu and I couldn't, either." Heba said.

Yugi sighed. "All right, Heba. Go ahead and ask." Yugi said.

"Okay. He didn't push things too far, did he?" Heba asked.

"No, Heba. In fact, he thought that he had pushed things too far and apologized to me for it." Yugi said.

"What did you do?" Heba asked.

"I told him that if he went too far, I would let him know. He didn't, and I was fine." Yugi said.

"Oh." Heba said.

"Can I assume that you thought I couldn't handle something like making out?" Yugi asked.

"Kind of." Heba said.

Yugi sighed. "I can handle that, Heba. Sex, not right now. Making out, I can." Yugi said.

"Did you?" Heba asked.

Yugi blushed.

Heba smirked. "So, Yami already got to making out?" Heba said.

"Heba, you don't have to threaten him." Yugi said.

"I'm not. I was just wondering how far you two got." Heba said.

Yugi sighed. "Stop worrying." Yugi said.

"Sure." Heba said before he left.

'Heba's going to worry about me now, but there's no need. I'm safe with Yami.' Yugi thought.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I just feel that anything can be turned into a date as long as you are with your boyfriend/girlfriend, so that's why this was their first date.

Next: Another date.

R&R.


	33. The Real First Date

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 33- The "Real" First Date

Yami was sitting in his room at the house. He was trying to plan out the date he had had in mind for him and Yugi, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to do.

'I want this to be something that Yugi will remember. It has to be special.' Yami thought.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Yami said.

The door opened, and Atemu walked into the room. "Hey, Yami. What are you doing?" Atemu asked as he plopped down onto Yami's bed.

"Well, I was trying to figure out where I'm going to take Yugi on our first date, but I'm not sure where to take him or what to do." Yami said.

Atemu was surprised by this. "First date? I thought that you and Yugi were considering that day at the pool a date." Atemu said.

"Well, it was, but it's not what I had imagined when I took Yugi our on our first date." Yami said.

"What did you have in mind?" Atemu asked curiously.

Yami got up and started meandering around the room. "I'm not real sure. Maybe go out for dinner and see a movie. Something like that." Yami said.

"Meaning that you want something that is more of a traditional first date." Atemu said, starting to understand.

"Well, you can't blame me for that." Yami said.

"Yami, can I give you a word of advice?" Atemu asked.

Yami looked over at his brother. "What's that?" Yami asked.

"Forget the movie." Atemu said.

Yami blinked in surprise. "Why?" Yami asked.

"Just because it's a traditional first date doesn't mean that you should do it. You know that Yugi's not that into movie theaters. He doesn't mind going with our friends, but you know that he prefers waiting for the movie to come out on DVD and watch it at home." Atemu said.

"Huh. You're right." Yami agreed. He let out a sigh and collapsed into the chair at the desk. "Well, back to the drawing board." Yami said.

"You know, I do have an idea." Atemu said.

"What?" Yami asked.

"You know that the carnival is in town. You could always take him there one day and spend the whole day there." Atemu said.

Yami started to say something.

Atemu held up his hand. "Yes. I know. It's not what you think about when you think of a traditional first date, but the point of a date is to get to know each other and have fun together. You have the "get to know each other" part down. You need to do something that is fun that you both will enjoy. We both know that Yugi will enjoy going to the carnival, and you would, too. It would be the perfect date." Atemu said.

"Hmm. I think that you're right. I would consider that a date." Yami agreed.

Atemu smiled. "Then take him there. I have no doubt that Yugi will have fun." Atemu said.

Yami smiled. "Thanks for the advice." Yami said.

"No problem." Atemu said, waving him off.

"Don't tell Heba that I'm planning to take Yugi to the carnival." Yami said.

"Why?" Atemu asked, confused.

"Because I want this to be a surprise and you know that Heba will end up telling Yugi if he finds out." Yami said.

"That's true. Heba has never been able to keep anything a secret from Yugi for some reason." Atemu said.

"That's because they are brothers that are close. They tell each other virtually everything." Yami stated.

"I guess so." Atemu said.

Yami then realized something. "Speaking of them, where are our boyfriends at?" Yami asked.

"Oh, they went out to spend time together." Atemu answered.

"A brothers' day out." Yami remarked.

"Well, you and I had one, so they're entitled to one as well." Atemu started.

"Yeah. I know." Yami said.

"Think they're talking about us?" Atemu asked.

"Well, we talk about them, so they have the right to talk about us." Yami replied.

Atemu sighed. "I guess so." Atemu agreed.

* * *

Yugi and Heba were sitting at Taco Palace, eating lunch.

"So, what made you want to eat here?" Yugi asked as they ate their lunch.

"We eat burgers way too much, and this is different." Heba said.

"Not to mention the fact that you prefer tacos to burgers any day." Yugi said.

"That, too." Heba agreed.

The two continued to eat.

"So, how are things going between you and Atemu?" Yugi asked.

"They're fine." Heba said with a smile. "I have to admit that when I first saw him again, I wasn't sure that things would work out between us because we had both changed so much from the past, but I'm glad that things have worked out with us." Heba said.

Yugi laughed. "I don't think that things couldn't have worked out. You know that Yamis and Hikaris aren't supposed to be involved romantically just because they are Yami and Hikari. They are perfect for each other in every way, and they do really fall in love." Yugi said.

"I know." Heba said. He then glanced at Yugi. "The same can be said for you and Yami. Given the trials that you two have been put through, anyone would have thought that you wouldn't have worked out." Heba said.

Yugi sighed. "I know that we faced a lot, but that's in the past now, and that's where I want it to stay." Yugi said.

"What does Yami say to that?" Heba asked.

"He's agreed. He knows that I want it to be in the past and stay in the past. I think at times he does still feel the guilt because of what happened, but I don't think he thinks about it as much as he used to." Yugi said.

"That's a good thing." Heba said.

"Yeah. It is. We've gotten past that mostly." Yugi said.

Heba smiled. "And I don't feel uncomfortable letting you be with Yami because I know that he's going to take care of you and not make the same mistakes as before." Heba said.

"Heba, get off that." Yugi said.

"Sorry, Yugi." Heba said.

"I know that what he did really upset you, but it's time to let it go." Yugi said.

"I have for the most part." Heba said. He shrugged before he added, "It's not like I bring it up to in front of him. There's no need." Heba said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

The two finished eating before they left.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Heba asked.

"You were the one who suggested that we come out. I thought that you knew what you wanted to do." Yugi said.

Heba blushed. "Um, not really. I just wanted us to spend together." Heba said.

Yugi shook his head. "Well, since we're out, we could head over to the bookstore. There's a new book out that I want to see if I can find." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Heba said.

The two headed over to the bookstore that was nearby and went in.

Yugi then started to look for the new book that he wanted.

Heba started to look at other things, which meant the comics with him.

Yugi soon joined his brother. "Can you not get anything other than comics?" Yugi asked.

Heba looked at his brother and smiled. "Well, not all of us love to read thousand-page books, Yugi." Heba said, motioning to the book in Yugi's hand.

"It's not a thousand pages." Yugi said.

"It seems like it." Heba said.

"I can't help it that I enjoy reading." Yugi said.

"And drawing. You used to draw all the time, and you were good at it." Heba said.

"I still do draw. Just not as much as I used to." Yugi said.

"You ought to get back into that." Heba said.

"I'll consider it." Yugi said.

The two headed to the counter to pay for it.

"Now," Heba said once they left the store, "I think that we're going to go to the music store."

"Okay." Yugi said.

The two headed there next.

* * *

Atemu and Yami were sitting in the living room when they heard the door open.

"Yugi. Heba. Is that you?" Atemu asked.

"Yes, Atemu. It is." Heba answered.

The two got up and headed into the kitchen, where Yugi and Heba were.

"Did you buy enough?" Yami asked, noticing that both held several bags.

"Yes, we did." Heba said.

"Well, let's get this stuff upstairs." Atemu said.

"Where's grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"In the store. Atemu and I offered to help, but he said that it's been a slow day, so he's told us not to worry about it." Yami said.

"Oh. Okay." Yugi said.

Yugi and Heba headed upstairs to put their bags in their rooms.

Yugi walked over to his desk and pulled out a drawing pad. He then sat down on the bed and started to flip through it, looking through all the old drawings he had done.

In the book were drawings of all his friends. Some were of them by themselves. Some were of groups of them. Some were of the couples that had come up.

'I did draw a lot.' Yugi thought. He had easily noticed something. 'I drew all of these before Yami and Tea started dating. After that, I couldn't bring myself to.' Yugi thought.

Yugi would never admit that to anyone because he didn't need Yami or Tea to feel guilty about what had happened.

There was a knock on the door.

"Yugi?" Yami asked.

"Come on in, Yami." Yugi said.

The door opened, and Yami walked in. "You okay?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. I was just looking at this old drawing pad I had. It's from a year ago." Yugi said.

Yami walked over and saw the drawing that Yugi had done.

That particular drawing was of Seto and Joey together.

"That's rally good, Yugi." Yami said, impressed. "You got every detail right." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks. Heba mentioned to me today that I don't draw like I used to, and he's right. I used to love it." Yugi said.

"So, why don't you get back into it?" Yami asked.

"I need to." Yugi agreed.

"Do you just draw people?" Yami asked.

"No. I draw landscapes, too, but I like to draw people." Yugi said.

"I think you should draw more." Yami said.

"Thanks. I probably will." Yugi said. He laughed. "There's a few couples that I haven't drawn yet." Yugi said.

Yami had flipped through the book and easily noticed something. There were no pictures after he and Tea started dating.

Yugi put the date at the bottom right-hand corner of each drawing, so Yami knew that.

'Yugi stopped drawing after that.' Yami thought, feeling guilty. He made sure to hide it from Yugi since he knew that Yugi would worry over it.

"I think I will get back to my drawing." Yugi said.

"Now?" Yami asked.

"No. I have to be in the right mood to draw. I'll make sure to draw more, though." Yugi said.

"Okay." Yami agreed.

* * *

That night, Yami and Atemu had made plans for their boyfriends.

"We figured that instead of going out, we could all stay home and watch a movie together." Atemu said.

"Like a double date in a way?" Yugi asked.

"Kind of." Yami agreed.

"So, what kinds of movies did you pick out?" Heba asked.

"No horror." Yami said, glancing over at Yugi. "Atemu and I wouldn't subject you to that." Yami assured him.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks." Yugi said.

"In any case, we figured that we could watch some action movie." Atemu said.

"_Transformers _or _Ironman_?" Heba asked.

"How did you-" Atemu started.

"Até, I know you too well. You love those movies, so when it involves action, it's going to be one of them." Heba said.

Atemu smiled. "Yeah. I guess so." Atemu agreed.

"We agreed on _Transformer: Revenge of the Fallen." _Yami said.

"Works for me." Yugi said.

"So, I'll get the DVD in." Atemu said.

"I'll get the popcorn." Yugi said.

"And I'll get the drinks." Yami said.

Once the four had everything, they sat down in the living room and started to watch the movie together.

* * *

~Saturday~

Yami had gone to Yugi's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Yugi said.

Yami opened the door and walked in to find that Yugi was sitting on his bed.

Yugi looked up and smiled. "Hey, Yami. What's up?" Yugi asked.

"Well, you remember how I said that I wanted to take you out on a real date." Yami said.

"Yami, that day at the pool-" Yugi started.

"Okay. Let me reiterate. I wanted to take you out on what was my idea of a real date." Yami said.

"In that case, yes, I do remember it." Yugi said.

"Well, we're going to have that today." Yami said.

"Oh? We're going out tonight?" Yugi asked.

"Nope. Now." Yami answered.

"Now? It's just eleven." Yugi said.

"I know, but we're going now." Yami said.

"How should I dress?" Yugi asked.

"For a day out in the sun." Yami said.

"Okay." Yugi said.

Yami then left the room.

Yugi was downstairs in a pair of blue jeans and a light blue shirt with his boots on a few moments later.

"Come on." Yami said, heading out the door.

Yugi followed his boyfriend. "So, where are we going on this date?" Yugi asked.

Yami reached over and took Yugi's hand in his. "That is a surprise." Yami said.

"Come on, Yami." Yugi said.

"Nope. You'll find out soon enough." Yami said.

"That's low." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said.

* * *

"So, where are they going?" Heba asked.

Atemu had told Heba that Yami was planning to take Yugi out on a date that day, but he hadn't told Heba what Yami had in mind.

"Well, Yami decided to take Yugi to the carnival." Atemu said.

"The carnival?" Heba asked.

Atemu nodded. "It's something that they will both find fun." Atemu said.

Heba smiled. "Yugi will defiantly have fun there.' Heba said.

"I know. Yami asked me for suggestions, and that's what I suggested." Atemu said.

Heba smiled. "The carnival actually sounds fun." Heba said.

Atemu looked over at his boyfriend. "Do you want to go?" Atemu asked.

"Yeah. We can stay away from Yugi and Yami since they're on their date." Heba said.

"Okay. Let's go." Atemu said.

The two got ready before they left the house to go to the carnival as well.

* * *

~The Carnival~

Yugi was surprised to see that they had come to the carnival that was in town. "The carnival?" Yugi asked, looking over at his boyfriend with shining eyes.

Yami smiled. "Yeah. I wasn't sure what to do, so Atemu suggested this. Can I assume that his idea was a good one?" Yami asked.

"Yes! I love the carnival! I can't think of a better date!" Yugi said with a smile.

Yami chuckled. "I'm glad that you like this idea." Yami said.

"Of course I do. I was hoping to get to the carnival before it ended, but I was never able to find the time." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "Glad to hear it." Yami said. He then took Yugi's hand in his. "Let's go." Yami said.

The two headed on into the carnival.

There were a lot of booths open, and there were several rides all over the area.

"So, what do you want to ride first?" Yami asked.

"I think that the rollercoaster is a good idea." Yugi said.

"Okay." Yami said.

The two headed over to the rollercoaster and waited in line until it was their turn. The cars on the rollercoaster only sat two people, so Yugi and Yami were able to sit by each other.

"Ready?" Yami asked, grinning over at Yugi.

"Of course." Yugi replied, grinning right back.

The ride then started.

Yugi and Yami had the time of their lives as they zipped through the ride together.

Once done, the two headed off. They rode several other rides together, enjoying each of them.

"So, what now?" Yami asked.

"How about some games?" Yugi asked.

"Whatever you want." Yami said.

"Yami, this is supposed to be about both of us. You should do something that you like, too." Yugi said.

"Yugi, as long as you have fun, I don't mind. Besides, the rides we have gone on have been fun as well, and you know that I love to play these games." Yami said.

"Okay." Yugi said.

The two headed over to a booth where you had three tries to throw a baseball and knock over the bottles that were stacked up.

"I'm not good at this." Yugi said.

"Good thing I am." Yami said. He paid to play the game and knocked over all the bottles on the first try.

"We have a winner!" the man running the booth said as he handed a stuffed bear to Yami as a prize.

"Here you go, Yugi." Yami said, handing it to Yugi.

"Thanks." Yugi said as he took the bear from Yami.

"Let's go." Yami said.

The two went off and found another game to play. The game was where you shot water into the clown's mouth in a race to get to the top first.

"Hold this, Yami." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Yami said, taking the bear front Yugi.

Yugi sat down and started to play the game along with four other people.

Yami watched the hats as they rose and noticed that Yugi's was the highest. 'Well, Yugi is an expert at these things. He's beat a lot of people when it comes to this game.' Yami thought, not doubting that his boyfriend was going to be the one that won the game.

Yugi did win the game and won a stuffed Kuriboh.

"I didn't doubt that you would win." Yami said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "I don't think that anyone has beaten you in that game. I know that I haven't." Yami said.

"And there are a few games here that I know I would never be able to beat you in." Yugi said.

"Like that." Yami said, gesturing to the test-your-strength game.

"Yami, you may be good at that, but there's no way that I am going to ever be able to beat you in that game." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said. He went ahead and played the game. He ended up hitting it up to the strongman level.

"Nice going, Yami." Yugi said as Yami handed him another stuffed bear.

Yami chuckled. "Well, like you said, I am pretty good at that game." Yami said.

"At least you don't use your Shadow magic. Bakura or Marik would have." Yugi said.

"And if they didn't, they would have sen the game to the Shadow realm if they lost." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Yeah. I think that's why Ryou and Malik choose not to bring those two here. They don't want any unnecessary attention." Yugi said.

"I can't say that I blame them." Yami said. He then bought them some cotton candy to share as well as a drink each.

They ended up staying at the carnival until around five.

"You know, I think that we need to go home. I'm tired out." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "That makes two of us." Yami agreed.

The two then started to walk home together.

"So, was this a more satisfying date to you?" Yugi asked.

"Yes. It was." Yami replied.

Yugi laughed. "Good." Yugi said.

The two arrived home and found that Atemu and Heba weren't there.

"Huh. I wonder where they are." Yami said.

"Heba's loves carnivals, too, so it's possible that they went there as well." Yugi said.

"I wonder why they didn't go with us." Yami said.

"Probably because they knew that we were going out on a date and wanted to give us time alone." Yugi said.

Yami laughed. "I suppose so." Yami agreed.

The two headed upstairs, and Yugi put the prizes that he had won and been given up.

Yami noticed the drawing pad out and saw the picture that had been drawn.

The picture was one of Yugi and Yami. Yami was behind Yugi with his arms wrapped around Yugi's waist, and both of them were smiling.

"I said I would get back into drawing." Yugi said.

Yami looked up at Yugi with a smile. "Yeah. That's one of you and me." Yami said.

"Yeah. I figured that I should draw one of us, although I'll have to label them since I'm planning to do one of Atemu and Heba. I need to be able to tell them apart. Not easy since you and Atemu look exactly alike and Heba and I looked exactly alike." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "I guess that would make it hard to tell them apart. I guess you'll have to label them." Yami agreed.

"Yeah." Yugi said as he sat down on the bed.

"So, is there anything that you want to do now?" Yami asked.

"I really don't know." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "How about a game of Duel Monsters?" Yami asked.

Yugi smiled back. "I'd prefer chess." Yugi said.

"Fine with me." Yami agreed.

The two got out the chess set and went downstairs to set it up on the kitchen table before they started playing.

"Why chess?" Yami asked.

"Because it's different. We play Duel Monsters all the time." Yugi said.

"Well, I guess after all the playing we did when we were trying to save the world; it would get a little redundant." Yami agreed.

"Besides, with the way Seto challenges us all the time, I'd rather just play something like this." Yugi said.

"Okay." Yami agreed.

The two then started to play the game. They ended up playing six different rounds of chess with Yami winning four and Yugi winning two.

"I think that I like playing chess as well." Yami said.

"I thought you would." Yugi agreed.

The two were rather happy with the way their date had gone.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The gang goes back to school.

R&R.


	34. Back to School

Here's the next chapter.

/blah blah blah/- HIkari to Yami

[blah blah blah]- Yami to HIkari

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 34- Back to School

Summer had come to an end, and the group of friends were getting ready to head back to Domino High School for their senior year of school, except for Serenity and Mokuba, who were going to be sophomores this year.

"Ah, man! I wish that summer was longer." Joey said, looking irritated.

Tea rolled her eyes. "Please, Joey. Stop that. It doesn't matter. We start back to school on Monday, so you might as well suck it up and deal with it." Tea said.

Joey glared at her. "Well, I don't want to." Joey retorted.

"Stop acting childish." Tea said.

"I'm with him. Summer should be longer." Bakura said, not happy that Ryou was still forcing him to go to school.

"You know, you're not going to get out of going, so you might as well accept that fact." Yami said.

Seto finally looked up from his laptop. "For once, I agree with him. You don't have a choice but to go." Seto said.

Joey glared at his boyfriend.

"Don't look at me like that. You know that it's true." Seto said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it." Joey said.

"Come on. You might as well deal with it. At least we are seniors this year, though." Malik said.

Everyone agreed with that.

"Come on. Let's head out to the pool for one last day of swimming before school starts." Mokuba suggested.

"Good idea." Yugi agreed.

The group headed out to the pool at the Kaiba mansion to go swimming.

* * *

~Monday~

Yugi and Yami were downstairs for breakfast before Solomon had to call them.

Solomon smiled. "I'm glad that someone was able to get up without me having to yell." Solomon said.

"Well, we knew that we had to go to school, so we went ahead and got up." Yugi said.

Yami rolled his eyes. "More like you forced me to get up." Yami grumbled.

"You had to get up anyway." Yugi replied.

"Well, I suppose I can give Heba and Atemu ten more minutes before I start yelling." Solomon said, setting a bowl of oatmeal in front of Yugi and Yami before walking off.

"It wasn't too bad, Yami." Yugi pointed out.

"I suppose so." Yami agreed.

Ten minutes passed, and Yugi and Yami were done.

"HEBA! ATEMU! GET UP! YOU HAVE TO GET TO SCHOOL!" Solomon shouted up the stairs.

"Now we'll see if they actually get up." Yami muttered.

Yugi smiled at that. "I'm sure that they will." Yugi assured him.

"Not likely." Yami replied.

It was five minutes before the two got downstairs.

"About time. Sit down and eat. You have ten minutes before you have to leave." Solomon said.

Heba noticed Yami and Yugi were sitting in the living room and said, "What about you two?"

"We already ate." Yugi answered.

"Oh." Heba said.

Atemu and Heba started eating and were done right as they needed to leave for school.

"Go on." Solomon said.

All four left the house.

"Why can't school start at a more reasonable time?" Atemu asked, stifling a yawn.

"Like what?" Yugi asked.

"Noon." Atemu said.

"And be there until seven?" Yami asked.

Atemu frowned. "Than again, maybe this is better." Atemu said.

Heba sighed. "Another year of this." Heba said.

"And then it's off to college." Yugi said.

"Well, some of us aren't as certain of that as you are." Atemu said.

"Come on, Atemu. You know that you're going to college." Yami said.

"Probably." Atemu agreed.

"I'm the one who doesn't know if they'll be going to college. I don't know that I'll have the grades for it." Heba said.

"Heba, you had A's and B's last year." Yugi said.

"I know, but you know that math and I don't get along." Heba said.

Yami groaned. "Does that mean that I'm going to have to be your math tutor again this year?" Yami asked.

"Probably." Heba said, grinning.

Yami sighed. "Great. I'll be spending about three hours just tutoring you in whatever math subject you have." Yami said playfully.

Heba glared at him playfully.

Yugi laughed at that.

"Why don't you tutor him?" Yami asked.

"Because you've already said that you will." Yugi said.

Yami groaned.

The group arrived at school and found that all their friends were there as well.

"Hey, guys!" Tea said cheerfully.

"Hey." Yugi replied.

"Ready for the new school year?" Ryou asked.

"Yes." Yami said.

"Somewhat." Atemu said.

"Not like I have a choice." Heba said.

"All different answers." Malik said.

"I take it that you've had some no's." Yami said.

"I didn't bother asking them." Ryou said, motioning to Joey, Tristan, Bakura, and Marik.

"Why should we?" Bakura muttered.

"Come on." Yugi said.

The group headed in and headed to their homeroom.

* * *

After homeroom, Yugi had gone to his locker to unload his backpack of some of the things that he didn't for a while.

"Hey, cutie." someone said.

Surprised, Yugi turned to see that Brock Stevens was standing there.

Brock was about five and a half feet tall. He also had a large build with sandy blonde hair and dark green eyes. He was smirking at Yugi.

Yugi didn't know Brock well. "Can I help you, Brock?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah. I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me." Brock said.

Yugi was startled by this. "Go out?" Yugi repeated.

"Yeah. I always thought that you were cute, and I thought that we'd make a good couple." Brock said flippantly.

Yugi wasn't too thrilled about Brock's attitude and was about to just tell Brock a simple no.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

Yugi felt a dangerous spike in Yami's temper through the link, and Yugi could easily tell that there was a high level of jealously there as well.

Before Yugi could say anything, Yami was there. "Yugi isn't going anywhere with you, Stevens." Yami said.

Brock took a step back in surprise at how Yami had suddenly been there. He was also slightly taken aback by the fire in Yami's eyes.

Yami may have been shorter than Brock, but his fierce glare still got to Brock.

"What's your deal?" Brock asked.

"My deal-" Yami started in a dangerous voice.

"Come on, Yami. We have to get to class before we're late." Yugi said. He grabbed Yami by the wrist and pulled him away and down the hall before Yami could cause any bodily harm to Brock.

"You're a really lucky man." Seto remarked.

Broke turned to face Seto, Joey, and Atemu. "Why?" Brock asked.

"Because most people who piss Yami off don't live to tell the tale." Joey said.

"What'd I do to piss him off?" Brock asked.

"Simple. You asked Yugi out." Atemu said.

"So what? He's a bit too overprotective as a friend if you ask me." Brock said, thinking that Yami was rather controlling.

"Oh, he's not an overprotective friend, Brock." Atemu said.

"He's an overprotective and extremely jealous boyfriend." Seto said.

"Boyfriend?" Brock asked, surprised.

"Yes. Yugi and Yami are an item now, so I suggest that you back off of Yugi before you are pulverized by Yami." Seto said.

Atemu, Joey, and Seto walked off.

"Geez. I didn't know that they were together." Brock muttered before walking off.

* * *

"The nerve of that guy!" Yami snarled as he and Yugi walked down the hall."Yami, please calm down." Yugi pleaded. He could tell that all Yami wanted to turn was turn around and pound Brock into a pulp.

"Why should I?" Yami asked through gritted teeth.

"Yami, this is our first day back to school. People don't know that you and I got together over the summer. No one knows, so please, keep a check on your temper." Yugi said.

Yami took a deep breath before he sighed. "You're right. I guess I did overreact just a little bit." Yami said.

"A little?" Yugi asked.

Yami groaned. "All right! I went completely nuts for no reason!" Yami said. He smiled at Yugi and said, "As you can see, I'm the jealous type."

"Yami, **all **Yamis are jealous. Trust me. I've seen it with Bakura, Marik, Atemu, and Seto." Yugi said.

"I don't like it when people come on to you." Yami said.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm not going to let anything happen." Yugi said.

Yami hesitated.

"And that won't happen, either." Yugi said, knowing that Yami was thinking about the fact that Yugi had been raped.

"I guess I worry it might happen again, and I won't be there again." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Yami, this time, I wouldn't hesitate to use my magic to protect myself." Yugi said.

"I'm glad of that." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Come on. Let's get to class." Yugi said.

The two headed to their class together.

* * *

At lunch, the group was sitting around outside.

"So, Atemu said that you about killed a guy, Yami." Bakura said.

Yami rolled his eyes. "I didn't lay a hand on him." Yami said.

"Only because I wouldn't let you." Yugi said.

"What'd he do?" Tea asked.

"He asked Yugi out." Yami said.

"So what? The runt wouldn't have gone out with him." Bakura said.

"Oh, yes. I'm sure that you would have acted calmly had someone asked Ryou out on a date." Yami said sarcastically.

"He wouldn't live long enough." Bakura said.

"Come on, Kura. No need to be like that. You know that no one is going to ask me out." Ryou said.

"Yeah. They're all too afraid of what you would do to them." Seto added.

The entire group laughed.

"So, you stopped him, huh, Yug?" Joey asked.

"Well, I didn't need Yami committing murder over nothing. I mean, I was about to just tell him no when Yami's there." Yugi said.

Heba laughed. "I have a feeling that no one is going to want to come onto Yugi after this." Heba said.

"Why would they? They know that Yugi is with Yami, and if anyone has heard about the way Yami reacted when Brock asked him out, then I know that there is no way that anyone else is going to try to ask him out." Atemu said.

Yugi glanced over at Yami. /Yami, you know that you don't have to be jealous. There's not reason for you to be./ Yugi said through the link.

[I know there's not, Yugi, but I can't help it. It just do when people do that.] Yami replied.

/Well, try not to attempt to kill anyone else. After a few days, people will know that you and I are dating, and we won't have to deal with this again./ Yugi said.

[You're right. I guess I'll have to try and keep my temper under control until then.] Yami said.

/You'd better. You know that Grandpa will have your hide if you get in trouble for fighting./ Yugi said.

[I've never gotten in trouble with him for it before.] Yami pointed out.

/That's because you were doing it in my defense. If it's not in my defense, Grandpa will murder you./ Yugi said.

[I guess I'd better watch it.] Yami said.

/Yeah. You better./ Yugi agreed.

"So, how are you two going to let the whole school know that you're dating?" Joey asked.

"Well, we haven't really talked about that." Yugi admitted.

Bakura snickered. "All Yami would have to do is lay a good one on Yugi right now, and I'm sure that the entire student body will get the picture real fast." Bakura said.

Yugi blushed bright red at that. "Oh, no! That's not happening!" Yugi said.

"Why not?" Bakura asked.

"Because not everyone is as public as you are when it comes to make out sessions with your boyfriend." Yami said.

"Just a thought." Bakura said.

"We'll deal with it in our own way." Yami said.

Tea smiled. "Well, just let us know if we can help. You know that we'll help you get word out when you want." Tea said.

"We will." Yugi assured her.

* * *

Tea was in her gym class that afternoon. She wasn't too fond of gym, although she was pretty good at it, especially when they did the gymnastics part of the class.

Since it was the first day of class, the coaches didn't make them do much, so they were free to sit around and talk for the whole period.

A group was girls were sitting around talking.

"So, are you still planning on asking him, Kayla?" a girl asked.

"Sure am." Kayla said with a smile.

"Are you sure? I mean, he's had all summer to find someone." another girl said.

"Come on, Mary Ann. We all know that he hasn't dated in months, so he's up for grabs, and I'm going to grab him while I have the chance." Kayla said.

Mary Ann sighed. "I know that he hasn't dated in a while, but we all know who he's hung up over, and I doubt that he's given up on him yet. Besides, we all know that he hasn't dated anyone in a long time, and every person that asks him is always turned down." Mary Ann said.

"Well, he probably won't turn me down." Kayla said.

"And if he does?" another girl asked.

"I tried." Kayla said.

When class ended, Tea walked out with Mary Ann. "Hey, Mary Ann. Who is Kayla planning to ask out? I never heard her say." Tea said.

"Oh. A few weeks before school began, Kayla told a bunch of us that she's planning to ask Yami Sennen out after school today." Mary Ann said.

"She is?" Tea asked, shocked.

Mary Ann nodded.

"So what?" Kayla asked, turning to Tea. She had been close enough to hear.

"Well, Yami's not going to say yes.' Tea said.

"Tea, just because you two broke up doesn't mean he won't give me a chance." Kayla said.

"That's not what I mean, Kayla." Tea said.

"He still hung up on Yugi?" Mary Ann asked.

"You could say that." Tea said.

"Well, Yami needs to move on. Yugi isn't going to go out with him, so he'll go out with me." Kayla said confidently before she walked off.

Tea shook her head. "That's a mistake.' Tea said.

"Why? She not good enough?" a girl demanded.

"Not what I mean." Tea said

"Then what?" Mary Ann asked.

"Yugi and Yami got together over the summer. They've been a couple for about two months now." Tea said.

"Yami asked him out?" a girl said, shocked.

"Nope. Yugi asked Yami out." Tea said.

"Why didn't you tell Kayla that?" another girl asked.

"I tried to tell her. She didn't give the chance. Besides, Kayla probably would have gone to ask Yami out anyway." Tea said.

"Yeah. She wouldn't believe it unless it comes from Yami himself." Mary Ann agreed.

'I don't think that Yami and Yugi are going to have to worry about the whole school knowing about them dating much longer. Kayla's a cheerleader, so everyone is going to know.' Tea thought.

* * *

Yami had had his last class without Yugi, so he was rather happy to get out of the class to go and see his boyfriend, even though he had talked to Yugi through their mind link throughout the majority of the class.

Yami headed toward Yugi's locker, since he knew that Yugi would go there to put up his books.

"Hey, Yami!" a female voice called.

Yami stopped and turned to see Kayla running up to him. 'What does she want?' Yami asked himself. He didn't know Kayla well. Only that she was a cheerleader.

Kayla stopped in front of him. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Kayla asked.

"About what?" Yami asked.

"Well, this is something that I wanted to ask you in private." Kayla said.

Yami wasn't sure if he should, but figured that there was no harm in hearing her out. "Fine." Yami said.

The two walked to an empty classroom.

"Now, what is it?" Yami asked.

Kayla smiled. "Well, I figured that since this was our senior year, we could out." Kayla said.

"Go out?" Yami asked.

Kayla nodded. "I mean, I know things didn't work out between you and Tea, but things will work out between me and you. We'd be the most popular couple in the school since you're the most popular male in the school and I'm the most popular female." Kayla said.

Yami was startled by this. "You want to go out with me because I'm popular?" Yami asked.

"Sure." Kayla said.

"Kayla, I'm sorry, but the answer is no." Yami said.

"But why?" Kayla asked, shocked.

"I don't want to." Yami said.

"Oh, come on! You can't tell me that you're still hung up on Yugi Mutou! It's been over a year already! You need to get over him and actually date someone instead of pining over someone you'll never have!" Kayla snapped angrily.

Yami glared at her. "Don't you ever talk about Yugi like that again!" Yami snapped.

Kayla had never seen Yami's temper in action, and she was rather shocked when it was turned on her. "But I-" Kayla started.

"If you must know, Kayla, Yugi and I got together over the summer. We have been dating for two months, so I am not pining for someone I won't ever have. I already have him. And I don't appreciate you trying to tell me how to run my life." Yam said.

"I just thought-" Kayla started.

"All you thought about was boosting your popularity. You don't care about me. You barely know me." Yami said.

Kayla huffed. "Well, dating Yugi will bring down your popularity." Kayla said.

"Let it. I'd rather have Yugi than my popularity anyway. In case you haven't noticed, I never tried to accept it. If anything, I do what I can to avoid it." Yami said.

Kayla glared before she stormed off.

Yami shook his head before leaving the classroom.

One thing he did know about Kayla was that she didn't take rejection too well. From what he had heard, she would storm off to rant and rave about why the guy she asked was not worth going out with, and she would hardly give that guy a glance. Plus, she always told the whole school the reason why the guy she asked rejected her.

'Hmm. Maybe Yugi will make an exception on the public displays of affection for once.' Yami thought.

/Yami, are you okay?/ Yugi asked thought the link.

[Yes. Why?] Yami asked.

/I felt you're anger spike./ Yugi said.

[Oh. That head cheerleader Kayla asked me out, and she got angry when I told her no. She had no idea that we were dating, so she got pissed. I told we were, and that made her angrier. I think she had it in her head that we would be together and that she would have a good chance of getting me, so she was angry that I turned her down.] Yami replied.

/Well, at least she's not one that does everything she can to try to ruin a relationship just because she's angry./ Yugi said.

[I know. I'll be at your locker in a minute.] Yami said.

/Okay./ Yugi replied.

A few moments later, Yami arrived at Yugi's locker.

"So, Kayla didn't react well?" Yugi asked as they walked out.

"Nope, but she never does when she is the one that is rejected." Yami said.

"Well, the whole school will know soon anyway." Yugi said.

"I was thinking that we could let people find out our way." Yami said.

"Such as?" Yugi asked.

"Can you let go of the PDA thing you have for one moment?" Yami asked.

"Yami, I don't mind kissing in public. It's making out I don't want to do." Yugi said.

Yami stopped. "So, I can kiss you in this courtyard now?" Yami asked.

"If you want." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "Gladly." Yami said. He then pulled Yugi to him and kissed him.

The whole yard went quiet as they saw Yugi and Yami kiss before people started whispering about how they were together.

Yami broke the kiss. "Now, I think that solved our problem." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I suppose so." Yugi agreed.

The two headed over to their friends.

"What was that about?" Serenity asked.

"Later." Yami said.

The group left the school.

* * *

At the ice cream parlor the group had gone to, several were laughing.

"So, Kayla actually thought you would go out with her?" Bakura asked.

"I guess." Yami said.

Tea shook her head. "I tried to tell her not to, but she insisted." Tea said.

"Did you not tell her Yami and I were together?" Yugi asked.

"Well, during gym, I didn't know she was planning to ask Yami out, and when I tried to tell her not to, she didn't listen and left before I could tell her that." Tea said.

"Well, it doesn't matter now." Yami said.

"And everyone knows that you two are together." Atemu said.

"Yeah. I wanted people to find out our way instead of Kayla's way." Yami said.

"Well, they did." Yugi said.

"Yeah, and you'll be the talk of the school for a few weeks." Heba said.

"It shouldn't be that big of a shock. I mean, everyone knew that Yami wanted to go out with Yugi." Tristan said.

"Well, some are still shocked." Tea said.

"Doesn't matter to me." Yami said.

"Yeah. I know." Yugi said.

"Think Kayla will be ignoring you tomorrow?" Joey asked.

"Probably, and I don't really care. It's not like I had that much to do with her in the first place." Yami said.

"You two never really talked, did you?" Ryou asked.

"Nope. That was the most I had talked to her in three years." Yami said.

"Well, it's over, and you won't have to deal with her again." Yugi said.

"Nope." Yami agreed, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.

* * *

The following day, the talk of the school was the fact that Yugi and Yami were now dating.

"I told you that that little display would work." Yami said as he and Yugi walked down the hall together.

Yugi smiled. "I had no doubt about that." Yugi said.

"I'm sure that there are a lot of people who are shocked. Most of them thought that you two would never get together since you had been pining for Yugi for so long without actually making any move to go out with him." Seto said.

Yami glared at Seto.

Seto shrugged. "It's the truth." Seto said.

Yami groaned. "I really don't care what people think. As long as they know that Yugi and I are together, I don't care." Yami said.

"More like as long as people leave us alone you don't care." Yugi said.

"Hey. I don't want people asking my boyfriend out." Yami said, slipping an arm around Yugi's waist.

Yugi laughed at that.

Kayla was down the hall and saw this. She glared at them harshly before she turned and stalked off with her posse behind her.

Yami chuckled. "I think she hates me now." Yami said.

"And you're happy." Atemu said.

"Exactly." Yami said, not ashamed of it in the least.

* * *

After school that day, Tea had met up with all her friends after school.

"So, what did Kayla have to say?" Ryou asked.

"Oh, the usual shit. 'I wasted my time thinking about him. He's not worthy of me. I can do so much better than him. I'm better off without him.' All the usual things that she says about the guys that turn her down." Tea said with a shrug.

Yami shook his head. "That girl really needs to get a life." Yami said.

"That is her life. Acting like a bitch is what she does best." Tea said.

"I give it two days before you find her hanging all over some guy." Bakura said.

"I'm just glad that she knows that I'm no longer available." Yami said as the group left the school grounds.

"So, what should we do now?" Joey asked.

"Puppy, we all have homework now, so we are heading home and doing it." Seto said.

"But-" Joey started.

"No buts! You are going to do better in school if I have to tutor you every second of every day we are awake." Seto said before he grabbed Joey by the arm and dragged him toward the limo.

Mokuba and Serenity said their goodbyes before they followed their brothers.

"I'm interested to see if Seto manages this." Tea remarked.

"We'll find out in time." Heba said.

"Come on. We need to get home." Ryou said.

Ryou, Bakura, Marik, and Malik all headed home as well.

"Well, I guess heading home couldn't be a bad thing." Tea said.

"I'll walk you." Tristan said.

The two then left.

"Well, that was an eventful first two days of school." Atemu said as they walked.

"And I hope that I don't have to deal with anything like this again." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "I doubt you will. There's not many people that would try to cross you, Yami." Yugi told his boyfriend.

"No joke. You have a famous temper in the school." Heba added.

"That just means that I don't have to worry about people coming onto Yugi or asking me out." Yami said.

"That is true." Atemu agreed.

The four went into the Game Shop when they got home and went to help Solomon.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: A small accident.

R&R.


	35. Accident

Here's the next chapter.

Like I said in my note in Starting Over, I will keep working on this story.

THERE WILL BE LIME IN THIS STORY, SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ BETWEEN THE BOLD WARNINGS!

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 35- Accident

~Five Months Later~

Christmas had come and gone, so the gang was back at school after their winter break.

"Why can't it be longer?" Joey asked glumly.

Seto rolled his eyes. "You wish that it lasted from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day." Seto said.

"Yeah! It makes more sense!" Joey said.

Everyone groaned at that.

"Joey, knock it off. This is our senior year, so you won't have to worry about school anymore." Atemu said.

"Yeah. I guess so." Joey said.

Tea looked over and noticed something. "Hey, Bakura. Where's Ryou at?" Tea asked.

"He's at home sick. Been throwing up for two days, so he decided to stay home until he felt better." Bakura said.

"And I thought that you would have stayed home so that you could take care of him." Tristan said.

Bakura scowled. "I tried, but Ryou made me come." Bakura said.

The group laughed at that.

"I hope that Ryou will be okay." Yugi said.

"He thinks it's just the flu." Bakura said.

"You might end up with it then." Malik said.

"At least I could get out of school then." Bakura muttered.

"Maybe I need to stay around him. The only way Malik lets me out of coming is if I'm sick." Marik said.

Malik rolled his eyes. "You are not going to purposely get the flu, Marik." Malik said.

The group laughed at that.

"Come on. We'd better get inside before the bell rings." Serenity said.

The group headed inside and went to their lockers before heading to their class.

The group got to their first class just as the bell rang.

* * *

~Four Days Later~

It was Saturday, and Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba were all sitting around the living room of the Game Shop.

"So, what should we do today?" Atemu asked.

"I'm all for just staying home." Yami said.

"Why?" Heba asked.

"Because Yami has developed a phobia of malls, and he's afraid that we're going to be going to another one." Yugi said.

Yami scowled at Yugi. "I am not afraid of them." Yami said.

"You have threatened to send every one that you come across to the Shadow realm." Yugi said.

"That's because we go to the mall way too much." Yami said.

"He is right about that." Atemu said.

"Which is why I feel that we need to stay inside. At least we won't have to go to the mall any time soon." Yami stated.

Heba and Atemu laughed at that.

Yami glared at them.

Yugi glanced at the clock. "I think that I'm going to call Bakura and see how Ryou is doing." Yugi said.

Ryou hadn't been to school the entire week because he was sick, and it had the whole group worried that it was something worse than the flu.

"Might be a good idea. Bakura needs to take Ryou to the doctor if he's not better by Monday." Yami said.

Yugi started to get up to get the phone.

CRASH!

"What the hell was that?" Atemu exclaimed.

A moment later, Bakura ran into the living room, looking scared out of his wits.

Yugi, Heba, Yami, and Atemu were all shocked at the way Bakura looked. None of them had ever seen him look that scared before, and they all wondered what could have happened to make Bakura, the great Thief King, so petrified.

"Bakura, what-" Yugi started.

"Hide me!" Bakura said.

"What?" Heba asked.

"Please! If you are really my friends, then hide me!" Bakura said. He looked even more terrified by the second, and all of them wondered what was going on.

"BAKURA! GET BACK HERE!" Ryou suddenly bellowed.

Bakura looked even more terrified, if that were possible.

"Ryou must be better." Atemu said.

"I'm dead!" Bakura said. He then jumped over the couch that Yugi and Yami were sitting on and landed behind it.

Yugi rose up on his knees to peer over the couch at Bakura's cowering form. "Is there something that we should know?" Yugi asked.

"Just don't let him know that I'm here! Ry's going to kill me if he catches up to me now!" Bakura said his voice panicky.

Yugi looked back at Yami, who just shrugged.

"Think we should remind Bakura that Hikaris can sense where their Yamis are just like Yamis can sense where their Hikaris are." Atemu asked Heba.

Heba smirked. "Nope. I think that it'll be more fun this way." Heba said.

Atemu chuckled. "Right you are." Atemu agreed.

Ryou then stormed into the living room, looking rather pissed.

Yugi looked at his fellow Hikari tentatively as he said, "Ryou, are you okay?"

Ryou didn't answer. He stalked behind the couch and grabbed Bakura, hauling him to his feet.

Bakura was shaking.

Yugi and Yami looked at each other before they moved off the couch and to the other side of the room for safety's sake.

"Now, Ry. Just calm down." Bakura said.

"Calm down? After what we just found out, you want me to calm down!" Ryou shouted.

"It's not that bad." Bakura said.

"Not that bad! Are you out of your mind? We are too young for this, Bakura!" Ryou growled.

"Um, just so we know why there is yelling going on, what's going on?" Heba asked.

"Not your problem." Bakura said.

"You came in our house, so I think we need to know what's going on." Atemu said.

Ryou let go of Bakura. "We found out why I've been so sick." Ryou said, glaring daggers at Bakura, who was cowering away from his angry Hikari and boyfriend.

"So what's so wrong with that?" Yami asked.

"Well, as it turns out, I sort of caused what happened." Bakura said.

"Meaning?" Yugi asked.

"He got me pregnant!" Ryou stormed.

There was silence for a few moments.

"Pregnant?" Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba all exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes." Ryou said through gritted teeth.

"Like I said, not that bad." Bakura said.

"Bakura, I am seventeen! I am too young to have a baby!" Ryou snapped.

"Didn't Ishizu tell you that there are only certain time periods when Hikaris can get pregnant?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, and unfortunately for us, this dummy forgot that and managed to get me in bed with him during that three-day period!" Ryou snapped.

"You know that I don't pay attention to stuff like that!" Bakura said.

"You should have! This affects you, too, idiot!" Ryou barked.

Yami turned to look at Yugi. "There's only a three-day period when Hikaris can get pregnant?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. It happens once every month. It's sort of like that certain time with women when they can get pregnant. With Hikaris, it's only possible in that three-day period." Yugi said.

"Which is why Heba cuts me off during those three days." Atemu said.

Heba glanced over at his boyfriend. "Do you want to be a teenage parent?" Heba asked.

Atemu started to say something.

"Até, I know that teenagers being parents in ancient Egypt was no big deal, but please look at it from this day and age." Heba said.

"No. Not when you say look at it from that angle." Atemu said.

Ryou was still glaring at Bakura.

Yugi walked over and placed a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Ryou, please just sit down and calm down." Yugi said.

Ryou groaned before he walked over and flopped down on the couch. "I can't believe this!" Ryou moaned.

Bakura had backed away to the wall, sure that his Hikari was going to flip out on him again at any moment.

Yugi sat down by him. "I know that this isn't what you planned, Ryou, but it's not a reason to want to kill Bakura." Yugi said.

"What am I going to do?" Ryou asked.

"Meaning?" Yugi asked.

"I won't be able to start college on time." Ryou said.

"So you'll start a semester later." Heba said.

"We don't have a lot of money." Ryou said.

"What about that money your mother left you?" Yugi asked.

Ryou's mother had left him a large sum of money for him to get when he turned eighteen.

"Yeah, but that doesn't help now." Ryou said.

"But it will." Yami said.

"Yeah." Ryou said.

"I'm sure Grandpa would let Bakura work in the Game Shop to earn some money." Atemu said.

"I'll do it." Bakura said quickly, willing to do anything to get in Ryou's good graces right then.

"Besides, you have all of us to help you." Yugi said.

Ryou looked over at him. "You will?" Ryou asked.

"Sure. There's no reason not to, and friends always help each other." Yugi said.

"Yeah. You'll have the most spoiled child on the face of the planet with all the friends you have." Heba added.

Ryou sighed. "Well, that does help, although I never imagined that I would be a teenage father." Ryou stated.

"Think I did?" Bakura asked.

"I guess not." Ryou said. He then turned to his boyfriend. "And stop cowering. I'm not going to kill you. I'm not going to be raising a child alone." Ryou said.

Bakura slowly walked over.

"Now that you're calm, Ryou, you need a doctor." Yami said.

"But who?" Ryou asked.

"Ishizu." Yugi said.

"Ishizu?" everyone asked.

"Yeah. Ishizu does have her medical license." Yugi said.

"She does?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded. "She got them especially so that she could take care of us Hikaris when we had kids." Yugi said.

"Oh! That's why you went to Ishizu when you found out about the baby before." Atemu said.

"Yeah." Yugi said.

Bakura and Ryou looked from Yugi to Atemu to Yami.

"He knew before we got together." Yugi said.

"He did?" Bakura asked.

"Yes. I told him." Yugi said.

"Well, at least you'll be taken care of by a friend." Yami said.

"Yeah. I guess so." Ryou said.

"You can give her a call." Yugi said.

"I'd better." Ryou agreed.

"I'll go call her." Bakura said before rushing from the room.

"You really scared the shit out of him, Ryou." Yami said.

"I didn't mean to." Ryou admitted. He blushed and said, "When I found out, I sort of blew. I knew when it had happened, so I knew it was when Bakura had seduced me." Ryou said.

"Well, I think you'll know to watch him from now on." Yami said.

"Yeah. I will." Ryou said.

Bakura came back in a few moments later. "Ishizu will see you now at her home." Bakura said.

"Well, let's go." Ryou said.

The two left.

"You'd better not do that to me." Heba said to Atemu.

"I won't, Heba. I wouldn't want to go through that." Atemu said.

Yami chuckled. "Being teenage parents in this day and age isn't all that it's cracked up to be." Yami said.

"No joke." Atemu said.

* * *

Later that day, the entire gang plus Solomon, Ishizu, and Odion were all gathered at the Kaiba mansion.

"So, you're pregnant?" Tea asked.

"Yeah." Ryou said. He was happy now, and he wasn't angry with Bakura anymore.

"With a baby?" Tristan asked.

"Yes." Ryou said.

"Really?" Joey asked.

"For Ra's sakes! He's already told you that he is pregnant! Stop asking the same question all the time!" Bakura snapped.

The disbelief had been going on for ten minutes, and it had finally gotten on Bakura's last nerve.

"Sorry. It's just kind of hard to believe." Mokuba said.

"Yeah. Men being able to get pregnant is kind of weird." Serenity said.

"Well, it's not all men that are able to. Only male Hikaris have the ability to give birth." Ishizu said.

"They can?" Tristan asked.

"Yes. All male Hikaris have the ability since their Yamis will want a romantic relationship with them, and wanting children is natural so Hikaris can have children." Ishizu said.

"WHAT?" Joey suddenly shouted.

All eyes turned to Joey.

"Didn't you know, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"NO! WHY DIDN"T SOMEONE TELL ME?" Joey demanded.

Mokuba winced. "Joey, stop shouting." Mokuba said, rubbing his ears. He was right beside Joey, so it was killing him to have Joey yell in his ear.

"I didn't know this! That could have happened to me!" Joey said.

Seto looked up from his laptop and looked over at his boyfriend. "You didn't know?" Seto asked.

Joey stared at his boyfriend. "You knew?" Joey exclaimed.

"Of course I did. Once I realized that we were Yami and Hikari, I asked Ishizu everything about the connection. I wanted to know everything so that I could be prepared. She told me about that then." Seto said.

"And you didn't tell me." Joey growled, getting angry.

Seto rolled his eyes. "I thought that you would talk to her about it since we didn't know very much about the specifics of being Yami and Hikari. I told you to do that before I even went to talk to her." Seto told his boyfriend.

Joey turned red. "Oh, well, um, I never did." Joey said.

"No wonder you didn't know." Seto said.

"So, you knew all along?" Yami asked.

"Yeah. I also knew about that three-day period when the Hikaris could get pregnant. That's why I made sure we never did anything in that time. I didn't want to be a teenage father, and I'm sure that you didn't, either." Seto said.

Marik snickered. "At least one of you is smart." Marik said.

Joey shot him a glare.

Malik whacked Marik in the head. "Leave him alone!" Malik snapped.

Marik pouted, but kept quiet.

"You two didn't plan this, did you?" Tea asked.

"No, but I'm happy about it now." Ryou said.

"No. You were ready to murder Bakura." Yugi said.

"How did you know?" Tristan asked, looking over his friend.

"Because Bakura ran into our house without knocking looking scared out of his wits. When Ryou came, we saw why." Yami said.

Atemu snickered. "I never thought that I would see Bakura scared like that." Atemu said.

Bakura glared at him. "You would have done the same if your Hikari was that pissed at you." Bakura said.

"Actually, I would have fled the county if I ever did something that made Heba that angry with me." Atemu answered.

"Wouldn't save you from me." Heba said.

"I know." Atemu said.

"Sounds like all of you have to be careful then." Serenity said.

"Well, all of us Hikaris know when that three-day period is, so we know what days not to have sex." Malik said.

"True." Yami said.

"Well, it looks like all of you will have to watch it from now on." Solomon said.

"Well, Yugi and I don't have to worry about it." Yami said.

"Please, Yami. You have to worry about it just like the rest of us." Atemu said.

"No, we don't." Yami said.

"What did you find? A surefire form of birth control?" Bakura asked.

"Yes, actually. The only type that is 100% effective." Yami said.

"The only form that's 100% effective is abstinence." Seto said.

"Yeah." Yugi said.

Then, everyone was staring at them.

"What?" Yami asked after a few minutes, tired of being stared at.

"You two aren't having sex?" Atemu asked.

"No!" Yami and Yugi said at the same time, shocked.

"Wow. And we thought you were actually getting some action." Marik said.

Yami glared at him.

"Yami, you and Yugi are sharing a room now." Heba said.

"I know." Yami said.

"But we thought you were sleeping together." Ryou said.

"Well, technically we are, but not in the way you're thinking." Yugi said.

"So, the only thing you two do is sleep?" Solomon asked.

"Yeah. We haven't had sex yet." Yami said.

"Wow. I never knew that a Yami had that kind of control." Odion said.

Yami sighed. "Believe me. Nothing has happened." Yami said.

"So, why share a room?" Heba asked.

"Because we both normally ended up falling asleep in my room for a few months, and Yami rarely went to his room, so we figured that he might as well move into the room as long as Grandpa was okay with it." Yugi said.

"Oh." Atemu said.

Yami rolled his eyes. "You people really need to get your minds out of the gutter. Just because two people who are dating share a room doesn't mean that they're having sex." Yami said.

"Our bad." Atemu said.

"Yeah." Yami muttered.

Yugi smiled. /Now, Yami. They didn't mean anything by it./ Yugi said.

/I know. It's just irritating./ Yami said.

"Anyway, what are you going to do now, Ryou? You'll need a lot of stuff." Tea said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll handle the bills." Seto said.

All eyes turned to him.

"WHAT?" Seto snapped.

"You're volunteering to help out?" Tea asked.

"Yes." Seto said tersely.

"Why?" Ryou asked.

Joey snickered.

"I take it you said something through the link, Joey." Yami said.

"Yep." Joey said.

"You don't have to, Seto." Ryou said.

"Just through the end of school. Once school ends, Bakura can work for me to earn money for you two." Seto said.

"You know, you have changed a lot since we first met, Seto." Yugi said.

"Just don't spread it." Seto said.

"We won't." everyone promised.

"You know, we'll help you get everything." Tea said.

"Yep." Serenity agreed.

"Thanks." Ryou said.

* * *

That night, Yug and Yami were in their room.

"Well, I'm glad that Seto's going to help Bakura and Ryou out." Yugi said.

"Yeah. Being with Joey has really helped." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "More like Joey knows the right things to cut off." Yugi said.

Yami laughed. "Yeah. That's true." Yami said.

"So, would you want to have kids in the future?" Yugi asked as he sat on the bed by Yugi.

Yami glanced over at him. "Why?" Yami asked.

"Curious." Yugi said

"Yeah. I would. Just not now." Yami said.

"No. We'd both better be done with college before that happens." Yugi said.

"I agree." Yami said. He shook his head. "I still can't believe that everyone thought we were having sex just because I moved into your room with you." Yami said.

"Well, you can see why everyone thought that." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami said.

Yugi leaned his head against Yami. "It didn't matter what they thought, Yami." Yugi said.

"I know. I just don't like that they thought for two months we were having sex." Yami said.

"Actually, it was probably more than that. You know they would have assumed we were having sex longer." Yugi said.

"I'm amazed that Grandpa and Heba haven't tried to kill me with them thinking that." Yami said.

"That's because they knew that if we were, it was because I wanted to." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami said.

Yugi leaned up and moved to straddle Yami's waist. "Yami, you're the only one I really talk to about the nightmares when I have them, and you're the only one that I talk to about whether or not I'm ready for sex. No one could have known that I'm not ready for that step yet." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "I suppose not." Yami said. He chuckled before he added, "Besides, you've only had a nightmare about it once in the last four months."

"Yeah. I have to admit that Dr. Grey helped me a lot, but I'm glad that I don't need to see her now. It really makes me feel like I've gotten past it." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said.

"In any case, you don't need to worry about everyone thinking we were having sex. We will when we're ready." Yugi said.

"Yes, and until then, I can always enjoy make out sessions, among other things." Yami said with a smirk.

Yugi turned dark red at that. "I'm so glad that you didn't mention that to them." Yugi said.

"What goes on in here doesn't have anything to do with them. No one needs to know that we do give each other blowjobs." Yami said.

Yugi looked away at that.

Yami chuckled as he forced Yugi to look at him. "No harm in us talking about it." Yami said.

"I know, but I still get embarrassed." Yugi said.

"No need to. It's nothing that any of the others haven't done." Yami said.

"I know that." Yugi said, still red.

Yami then kissed Yugi. "Don't worry about it, Yugi. We can stop talking about it." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I suppose the others would be shocked if they knew that." Yugi said.

"Yep." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "You were really great with me that first time." Yugi said.

"Well, it wasn't easy for you given the past." Yami said.

~Flashback~

"_Yugi, are you sure?" Yami asked. He wasn't sure if Yugi could handle this yet._

"_I, uh, don't really know. I'm not sure if I'm ready for sex yet, but I'll never know if we don't try." Yugi said. He had been getting sexually frustrated for a while, and he wanted to see if he could handle it._

"_Well, all right. Just tell me if you need to stop. I won't get upset if you do." Yami said._

_Yugi nodded._

_The two had tried, and Yugi had been fine up until Yami had tried to prepare him._

_Yugi couldn't handle. "Y-Yami. S-st-stop." Yugi said._

_Yami did immediately. He saw the look of fear in Yugi's eyes. "Yugi, calm down. It's okay." Yami said when he saw the tears in Yugi's eyes._

"_I'm sorry. I just-" Yugi started._

"_I know, Yugi." Yami said as he hugged Yugi._

_Yugi winced. He had a hard erection, and it wasn't about to go away._

_Yami knew that and got an idea. "Yugi, if you'll let me, there might be a way we can both get some relief." Yami said._

"_How?" Yugi asked._

_Yami smiled. "Well, you'll forgive the term, but we could try blowjobs.' Yami said._

_Yugi blushed._

_"You don't have to." Yami said._

"_Well, I guess I can try it." Yugi agreed._

_Yami nodded. "Just tell me to stop if you need to." Yami said._

_Yugi nodded._

**_LIME STARTS HERE!_**

_Yami then moved down Yugi's body and placed his hands on Yugi's hips. _

_Yugi bit his lip, a little afraid._

_Yami could sense that Yugi was afraid, but he knew that stopping without Yugi telling him wouldn't help, so he leaned down and licked at the tip of Yugi's member._

"_Ah! Yami!" Yugi exclaimed, jumping. There was no sign of fear._

_Happy with the reaction, Yami took the tip of Yugi's member into his mouth and started to suck gently on it._

_Yugi reached down and tangled his hands in Yami's hair._

_Slowly, Yami took Yugi further into his mouth and started sucking harder on him._

"_Ah! Yami!" Yugi cried._

_Yami was thankful he had put a silencing spell on the room._

_Yugi tried to buck his hips up, but Yami stopped him from doing that by holding his hips down._

_Yami started to suck at a slow pace, wanting it to last, but he then started to suck even harder on Yugi._

_It didn't take much to force Yugi to come. "YAMI!" Yugi cried as he came._

_Yami swallowed every drop that Yugi released before he let go of Yugi's member._

**_LIME ENDS HERE!_**

_Yugi was sweating and panting as he recovered from his release._

_Yami chuckled as he leaned down and kissed._

_Yugi could taste himself on Yami's lips, and it was strangely arousing._

_Yami chuckled again. "Well, we can relieve each other in another way at least." Yami said._

_Yugi blushed._

_Yami laughed and kissed him again._

~End Flashback~

"I suppose claiming abstinence wasn't the best way to go." Yugi stated.

Yami laughed. "They wanted to know if we were having sex, and we're not." Yami said.

"Well-" Yugi started.

"They weren't asking about oral sex." Yami pointed out.

"I suppose so. What they don't know doesn't hurt them." Yugi said.

Thinking back to that night had given Yami a hard-on, but he had decided to ignore it since it was late and they needed to go to bed.

Yugi had other idea. He had reached down and slipped his under Yami's sleep pants to his erection.

Yami gasped at that.

"I know you too well, Yami." Yugi said with a grin.

Yami gulped. "Well, I-" Yami starred.

"Tomorrow's Sunday. Going to bed a little later won't hurt." Yugi said.

Yami wasn't about to argue since Yugi was now stroking his erection, making him even harder. "A-all right. Y-you win." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "I thought I would." Yugi said. He quickly jerked Yami's pants and boxers down.

Yami gasped as the cool air hit his member.

"I'd put up a silencing spell. You know that you're quite vocal." Yugi said.

Yami nodded and did as his Hikari had suggested, putting up a silencing spell on their room.

**LIME STARTS HERE!**

Yugi smiled before he leaned down and placed his hands on Yami's hips before he took Yami's member into his mouth.

Yami let out a small cry as his member was suddenly surrounded by such warmth.

Yugi smirked around his Yami's member as he started to suck slowly on Yami's member.

Yami gasped and moaned at the feeling as he reached down and tangled is hands into his Hikari's hair.

Yugi continued to suck slowly on Yami's member, wanting to draw it out.

Yami tried to buck up, but Yugi's hands wouldn't allow it. "Yugi, please! Faster!" Yami begged.

Yugi chuckled at that, sending vibrations down Yami's member.

Yami cried out again.

Yugi decided to be merciful and started to suck harder on Yami's member.

It didn't take much to force Yami over the edge. "YUGI!" Yami cried as he released.

Yugi swallowed every drop that Yami released before he let go. He then untangled Yami's hands from his air to raise up.

**LIME ENDS HERE!**

Yami panted as he tried to regain his breath.

Yugi laughed. "If you're this vocal during a blowjob, I wonder how loud you'll get when we do actually have sex." Yugi said.

"We'll see one day." Yami said. He was still slightly out of breath.

Yugi motioned to Yami's pants and boxers. "You might want to get redressed. If someone does come in here, we don't need them getting the wrong idea." Yugi said.

Yami took Yugi's advice. "You know, you can be rather devious." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said with a smile.

"When we do start having sex, I'm going to have to watch. There is no telling how devious you are going to be when we start." Yami said.

Yugi shrugged. "You never know." Yugi said.

Yami then pulled Yugi into a rather heated kiss, tasting himself on Yugi's lips.

Yugi let out a moan as Yami forced his way into Yugi's mouth.

Yami mapped out the inside of Yugi's mouth before he broke the kiss.

Yugi took a moment to catch his breath from the heated kiss. He then said, "And I'll have to watch out for you."

"Yep." Yami said.

Yugi then kissed Yami again, although this kiss was chaste. "I love you, Yami." Yugi said.

"I love you, too, Yugi." Yami said.

Although they both knew that they loved each other and could feel it through the link, they both liked hearing and saying it to each other, which they did often.

"Now, I think that we do need to go to bed. I know that we don't have to get up early, but it's after midnight already." Yami said.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Yami, we've stayed up until one or two in the morning before." Yugi said.

"Yeah. We do stay up late talking sometimes." Yami admitted.

"But you're right. Going to bed is probably a good thing given the fact that Grandpa might drag us out of bed so that we will help in the shop." Yugi said.

"You're right. He does do that to us." Yami agreed.

The two then settled down and got under the covers to go to sleep that night.

"Night, Yami." Yugi said, cuddling up against Yami like he had done every night since they started sharing a bed.

"Night, Yugi." Yami said, wrapping his arms around Yugi.

It wasn't long before Yugi fell asleep, and Yami followed soon after.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I wanted to show with the lime that Yugi was getting more comfortable with the idea of sex even though he wasn't ready to go all the way yet.

Next: The gods return.

R&R.


	36. The gods' Decree

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 36- The gods' Decree

Yami and Yugi had woken up for school.

While Yugi was getting a shower, Yami was sitting on the bed looking through the book that had Yugi's sketches in it.

Yugi didn't mind it if Yami looked through his sketches.

'Yugi is really good.' Yami thought. He saw that Yugi had drawn all of the couples in the book along with someone new ones of the ones that had been drawn over a year ago.

Yugi then walked out of the bathroom that was connected to his bedroom in a towel. "It's yours, Yami." Yugi said.

"Thanks, Aibou." Yami said. He set the sketchpad down on the desk before he headed into the bathroom for his shower.

Yugi went through his closet and got out his school uniform. He then took off the towel and got dressed for school.

It wasn't long before Yami stepped out of the shower.

"So, whose turn is it to see if Atemu and Heba are out of bed?" Yugi asked.

"Yours. I had to do it Friday." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "Great." Yugi said.

Yami snickered. "Hey. We agreed that we'd take turns each day, so you don't have a choice." Yami said.

"Let's just hope that there's not a repeat of last time." Yugi said.

The last time Yugi had gone to wake Heba and Atemu up, the covers had been thrown into the floor, so Yugi saw them both naked, and it was obvious that they had had sex the night before.

It had horrified Yugi that he had seen his brother and his brother's boyfriend naked in bed together.

"It won't be that bad." Yami said.

"Let's hope not." Yugi said.

Yami then got ready while Yugi went to wake up Atemu and Heba.

Yugi turned the knob of the door and opened it.

All three froze.

"OH MY GOD!" Yugi screamed.

"YUGI!" Heba cried.

Yugi slammed the door shut before he dashed back into his room.

"Yugi, what-" Yami started, having heard the screams and saw the look on Yugi's face.

"I found something worse." Yugi said.

"Were they-" Yami started.

Yugi nodded.

Yami sighed. "I know the feeling." Yami said.

Atemu and Heba had been in the middle of sex, and it wasn't a sight that Yugi had ever wanted to see nor was it one that he wanted to relive.

"Okay. Let's go downstairs." Yami said.

"This is embarrassing." Yugi said.

"Well, I've done it, too. If it didn't kill me, then it won't kill you." Yami said.

Yugi nodded.

The two headed downstairs.

Yugi then started to fix them some breakfast, and he started to make pancakes.

Yami decided to make some bacon.

It wasn't long before Atemu and Heba came downstairs.

"Yugi, I am so sorry." Heba said.

Yugi sighed and turned to look at them. "Let's just forget that it ever happened." Yugi said.

"Good." Heba said.

"And lock the door from now on." Yami said.

"I think we will." Atemu agreed.

"Let's eat." Yugi said.

The four sat down and ate their breakfast before they headed to school.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"Well, the year probation for Pharaoh Yami is up come the end of this week." Hathor remarked.

"Yes. We are all aware of that." Horus said.

Isis looked over at Ra. "So, when are we going to bring Pharaoh Yami here to give him our final judgment?" Isis asked.

"I believe this Friday will do." Ra said.

"What do you plan to do?" Anubis asked.

"Simply tell him what I think. I will also tell him if he has earned the right to remain among the living." Ra said.

"So, he will learn whether or not he will remain by his Hikari's side." Osiris said.

"So, what are you going to do?" Ma'at asked.

Ra sighed. "What do you think I'm going to do? He has more than earned the right to remain by his Hikari's side. He has done nothing to hurt his Hikari in any way, shape, or form. I believe that he has learned his lesson." Ra said.

All of the gods and goddesses agreed with that.

* * *

At school, the four boys met up with all of their friends.

"Hey, guys." Joey said.

"Hey. What's going on?" Yugi asked.

"Not much." Tristan said.

"Oh, come on, Tristan! You know that there is plenty going on!" Tea said, glaring at her boyfriend.

"I'm trying not to think about it." Tristan muttered.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "What is his problem?" Yami asked.

Bakura and Marik, both of whom looked rather irritated, pointed to a poster that was on the wall.

It was an advertisement for the prom that was on May 18th. It was telling that the theme was Egypt, and it was also stating that the prom started at seven that night.

"Oh. The prom." Atemu said.

"Yes! Everyone is talking about it." Tea said.

"But it's over a month away." Yami said.

"Yeah, but we girls have to get ready now. We have to find our dresses, get them fitted, get jewelry to match, get-" Tea started, ticking them all off on her fingers.

"Okay, Tea. I think we get it." Yugi said with a smile.

"Well, we have to think about these things early." Tea said.

"Is everyone going?" Serenity asked.

"I don't think that there is a reason for us not to go." Ryou said.

"But Ry-" Bakura started.

"No, Kura! You are going to the prom." Ryou said, glaring at his boyfriend.

"But I don't want to." Bakura complained.

"Too bad." Ryou said.

"Malik-" Marik started.

"Forget it, Marik. You're going." Malik said.

Marik groaned.

"There is no way I am going to do something as trivial as that." Seto said.

Joey looked over at him.

"Here is comes." Mokuba muttered.

"You are going." Joey said.

Seto looked over at him. "You can't tell me that you want to go." Seto said.

"Of course I do! This is our senior prom, and I don't want to miss it." Joey said.

"Puppy, I do not want to go to something like that." Seto said.

"Come on, Seto. It won't hurt. And I really want to go." Joey said, turning on the puppy dog eyes that Seto couldn't resist.

"Fine." Seto groaned.

Everyone snickered at that.

"What about you guys?" Serenity asked, looking over at Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba.

"Well of course we're going." Yami said, wrapping an arm around Yugi's waist. "I'm going to show off that I have the cutest boyfriend in the school." Yami said.

"Yami." Yugi groaned, turning red at that. He hated when Yami would call him that.

Yami chuckled. "Well, it's the truth." Yami said.

"There's no chance that I would miss it, either." Heba said.

"You wouldn't?" Atemu asked.

Heba glanced at his boyfriend. "You didn't want to?" Heba asked.

"I had to deal with that enough when I was in ancient Egypt. You know that I hated them." Atemu said.

"Well, this is a lot different. You know that you won't be the center of attention at the prom, and you know that people aren't going to be trying to seduce you the entire time." Heba said.

"I know, but I still dislike them a lot." Atemu said.

Yugi laughed. "Don't worry, Atemu. It won't be as bad as you think." Yugi said.

"I hope not." Atemu muttered.

The bell rang.

"Come on. We need to get to class." Yami said.

The group headed to their separate classes.

* * *

Atemu and Yami were sitting in their math class.

The teacher had given them work to do out of the book and was allowing them to work in pairs, so Yami and Atemu had decided to work together.

"Do you really not what to go to the prom, Atemu?" Yami asked.

"I guess I don't mind it too much, but it's not high on my list of things that I want to do." Atemu answered.

"But you'll go because it's what Heba wants." Yami said.

"Yeah." Atemu said. He looked over at Yami. "Do you really want to go?" Atemu asked.

"Yeah. I do. I don't mind them. I enjoy it mostly because I love dancing with Yugi." Yami said.

"I can see your point." Atemu said.

"It won't be as bad as you think." Yami said.

"I hope not." Atemu said.

* * *

Yugi and Heba had history at that time and were sitting in class by each other.

There was a sub that day, so most of the kids were talking.

"Forcing Atemu to go to prom, huh?" Yugi asked.

"Well, I wouldn't completely force him, but I really want to go." Heba said.

"Which means that Atemu won't mind going." Yugi said.

"I suppose not." Heba said.

"Well, you know the real reason Yami wants to go." Yugi said.

"He wants to make sure that everyone knows that you're with him, and he wants to show off the fact that you two are an item." Heba said.

"That's all he's done this school year. I still don't get it." Yugi said.

"After the past, Yami didn't think that he would stand a chance with you. He's just really happy that you're dating him." Heba said. He chuckled before he added, "Plus, by making sure everyone knows that you're dating, he knows that there is less of a chance of anyone hitting on you."

"No one has the guts to do that because they know that Yami will kill them if they try to hit on me." Yugi said.

Heba shrugged. "Yami's just being careful." Heba said.

"Heba, he's jealous, and we both know it." Yugi said.

"All Yamis are." Heba said.

"I guess so." Yugi said. He shook his head. "I'm starting to understand why Ryou and Malik were always so irritated by the fact that Bakura and Marik were so jealous." Yugi said.

"Joey knows the pain, too." Heba said.

Yugi smiled. "I know." Yugi said.

* * *

~Friday~

"So, what are we doing tomorrow?" Joey asked.

"Not sure." Yami said.

"Why don't we just meet at the mall and then we can decide what we're going to do then." Ryou suggested.

"Good idea." Atemu said.

The group then headed their separate ways.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" Yugi asked.

"We can eat dinner and then watch a movie." Yami said.

"Sounds good." Heba agreed.

The four headed home and did their weekend homework.

That night, they had a pizza delivered to the house and watched a movie while they ate.

Once dinner was over, they turned off the TV.

"So, what now?" Atemu asked.

"We could play Duel Monsters." Yami said.

The group agreed, and they got their decks and played a tag team duel with Yugi and Heba on a team, and Yami and Atemu on the other team.

After playing, Yugi and Heba ended up winning although barely.

"Well, we win." Heba said with a smile.

Atemu groaned.

"Don't take it so hard." Yami said.

"That's not why." Atemu said.

Heba snickered. "He's bottom tonight." Heba said.

"We didn't need to know that!" Yugi and Yami exclaimed at the same time.

Atemu and Heba couldn't keep themselves from laughing.

But no one had the chance to move as a bright light filled the room, and they vanished.

* * *

~Realm of the gods~

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Bakura shouted.

All of the Yamis and Hikaris had ended up in a gold room.

"Bakura-" Yami started.

There was a low chuckle behind them.

"Very vocal, Tombrobber."

All of them turned to find themselves facing the gods of Egypt. Instantly, all of them were kneeling.

Ra waved them off. "There is no need of that." Ra said.

Slowly, they all got on their feet.

"My lords, why have you called us here?" Atemu asked.

"Well, Ra thought that it was time for you to know what our final decision is." Ma'at explained to them.

However, everyone look clueless.

Anubis raised an eyebrow. "You do remember what this time is, do you not?" Anubis asked.

There was still no recognition on anyone's face.

"Are you telling me that you forgot what we said one year ago?" Osiris asked.

"Um, apparently." Heba said, rubbing the back of his head.

Then, all of the gods and goddesses started laughing.

"Oh, that's rich! They could be facing the worst, and they wouldn't have any idea why it was happening!" Horus said.

Isis chuckled. "Perhaps we should enlighten them first, Ra." Isis said.

"True." Ra said.

Bakura was getting irritated. "Well, get on with it then." Bakura said.

"Well, it would seem that you have all forgotten about the probation period that we put Pharaoh Yami on a year ago for his actions beforehand." Hathor explained.

Realization dawned on everyone then.

"It's been that long already?" Joey asked.

"Yes. It has." Ra said.

Yami gulped. He hadn't even thought about this happening. He would soon know if he was staying with his Hikari for good or not.

Yugi moved a little closer to Yami and took Yami's hand in his hand.

"Now, since we are all on the same page, perhaps we can get started." Ra said.

Everyone nodded.

Even Bakura, Marik, and Seto had become solemn since they now knew why it was that they were there.

"Now, had you asked me a year ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about separating you two permanently given what you had done then." Ra said.

"I understand." Yami said.

Yugi grew worried at that thought. 'I hope that they aren't going to take Yami from me. I won't be able to stand it.' Yugi thought.

"However, we have observed you over the last year, and I have come to a decision." Ra said.

Everyone was worried as they waited for the final verdict.

"In the last year, you have done absolutely nothing to harm your Hikari, and we do not foresee any such mistakes in the future. Therefore, you are now off this probation period, and you are free from worry from us." Ra said.

"What?" Yami said, shocked.

"So, he's off the hook?" Ryou asked.

"For this, anyway. Just let this be warning to you all. We are going to come after you if you make a mistake like this." Ra said.

"We understand." Marik said.

"Good. You are off the hook, Pharaoh Yami. You won't be seeing us again for quite some time." Horus said.

"Thank you." Yami said.

The same bright light from before surrounded them, and all the Yamis and Hikaris were gone.

"Well, that was funny." Hathor said, laughing again.

"Yes. I could have really had them going for awhile." Ra agreed, laughing as well.

It was going to be something that the gods were not going to forget any time soon.

* * *

"I can't believe that I forgot about that." Yami muttered. He was lying in bed with Yugi that night.

"Well, it doesn't matter, Yami. The important thing is that they are letting you stay." Yugi said as he leaned over to kiss Yami.

Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi as he kissed Yugi back. Once the kiss ended, Yami said, "I know what you mean. I'm just glad that we get to stay together."

Yugi smiled. "Well, it's not like you've done anything to warrant being taken from here." Yugi said.

"In your eyes." Yami said.

"Yami, all you've done is put me first in everything. There isn't anything that they could have found against you." Yugi said.

"I suppose not." Yami agreed.

Yugi smiled at Yami. "Don't worry about anything, Yami. It'll be fine." Yugi said.

Yami nodded.

Yugi leaned down and kissed Yami again. "In any case, I'm just glad that we are going to be able to stay together." Yugi said.

"So am I." Yami agreed.

"By the way, what was that remark about not seeing them again for some time?" Yugi asked.

"Oh. That. Well, all of us from ancient Egypt will see them again when we die. We'll go the Egyptian afterlife." Yami said.

"Oh." Yugi said. He was a little disappointed because it meant that they wouldn't see each other in the afterlife.

Yami chuckled. "Don't worry, Yugi. As my Hikari, you'll have the choice of going with me to the afterlife." Yami said.

"I will?" Yugi asked.

Yami nodded.

"Well, I feel better about that." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami agreed.

"In any case, we might as well go to bed. No telling what time Joey will be calling us to do something together." Yugi said.

"You're right about that." Yami said.

The two then settled down together and were soon asleep, wrapped in each other's arms. They were glad to know that they would be together forever.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Prom!

R&R.


	37. Prom

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 37- The Prom

It was the Monday afternoon before prom, and that was the only thing that all of the girls had been talking about for the last three weeks.

"I will be so glad when the prom is over because once it is, I don't want to hear that word ever again!" Seto growled.

"They are just excited, Seto." Atemu said.

"I don't care! There is no need for the word prom to be thrown into every other sentence that they speak!" Seto snapped.

"It's not that bad." Tea said.

The entire group was over at the Kaiba mansion.

"I think it is!" Seto retorted.

"Come on. You only get one senior prom." Serenity said.

"Do I look like I care?" Seto asked.

"Um, Seto. You realize that you are going to be hearing about the prom when Serenity and I are seniors." Mokuba said.

"That's two years away, so I'm going to have the time that I need to get over my hatred of it. I won't care by then." Seto said.

Yugi looked over at Ryou. "How are you and the baby doing, Ryou?" Yugi asked.

Ryou was now three and a half months pregnant. He wasn't really showing yet. He smiled at Yugi and said, "I'm doing just fine. We're both great, actually. Ishizu says that there aren't any problems, and that the baby is perfectly healthy, and so am I." Ryou said.

"That's good." Yugi said.

"I'm just glad that I'm not really going to be showing until after we're already out of high school." Ryou said,

"Don't want to listen to what others have to say?" Malik asked.

"Not in the least." Ryou said.

"You don't have a thing to worry about with the killing machine over here." Atemu said, pointing to Bakura who was sitting beside him.

"Yeah. If anyone said a word, they would be dead." Bakura agreed.

"Kura, there would be no need." Ryou said.

"I think there would be." Bakura said.

"Well, I don't." Ryou said.

"Then I'd at least beat the crap out of them for daring to say anything about you or our baby." Bakura said.

"I never saw you as the overprotective type." Heba remarked.

Bakura shrugged.

"Well, Malik and I are learning from you two." Marik said.

"Meaning what?" Bakura asked, glaring.

Malik rolled his eyes. "He means that we don't want to have a child now, so we're being careful." Malik said.

"You threaten with something?" Joey asked.

"No sex for three years if I end up pregnant." Malik said.

Everyone started laughing while Marik scowled.

"I bet Marik is making sure that that never happens." Yami said.

"He has the days marked on the calendar." Malik said.

The entire group laughed again.

* * *

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba all arrived back at the Game Shop after spending several hours over at the Kaiba mansion.

"Hello, boys." Solomon said. He was sitting in the living room with the TV on, watching the news.

"Grandpa? Why aren't you running the store?" Yugi asked.

"It was a slow day, and once it hit six with no customers in two hours, I decided that I would go ahead and close up the shop." Solomon answered.

"I wish that you would let us do that when we have days like that." Yami said, knowing how annoying and boring it could get when there were no customers for hours on end.

Solomon chuckled. "I'm older, so I'm entitled." Solomon said.

All four groaned.

"In any case, how was hanging out?" Solomon asked.

"It was fine. We were talking about prom a lot." Yugi said as the four sat down on the couch.

"And Ryou is doing fine, and so it the baby." Heba added, knowing that Solomon wanted to be kept updated on Ryou and the baby.

"Excellent." Solomon said with a smile.

"We were talking about Marik, too." Yami said, laughing.

Atemu chuckled as well.

"Meaning? Don't tell me that Malik and Marik are in the same boat now, too." Solomon said.

"Far from it. Malik has threatened to not have sex with Marik for three years if he winds up pregnant." Yami said.

"From what Malik said, Marik has marked those days on the calendar so that he doesn't goof up." Atemu added.

Solomon started laughing. "You're kidding?" Solomon said.

"Nope." all four said.

Solomon continued to laugh. "That has to be the funniest thing that I have ever heard." Solomon said.

"Well, I think that Malik would actually do it." Yugi said.

"At least they are being cautious." Solomon said. He then remembered something. "By the way, these came for you." Solomon said as he handed envelopes over.

"What are they?" Yugi asked.

"College responses." Solomon said.

"Terrific." Yami said as they sorted through them.

Yugi had four, Heba had two, Yami had three, and Atemu had three.

"Hey! I got into Cairo, Harvard, and Oxford." Yami said.

"I got into those too, plus Princeton." Yugi said.

"I got into Cairo and Tokyo." Heba said.

"I got into Cairo, Tokyo, and Princeton." Atemu said.

"Well, now all you have to do is figure out where you want to go." Solomon said.

"Yeah." Atemu said.

"Well, I already know. I'll go to Harvard. It was my first choice." Yugi said.

"Same here." Yami agreed.

Both wanted to be doctors, so they wanted to go to one of the best medical schools for it.

"I'm not sure." Heba said.

"Me, either." Atemu agreed.

"Well, you have a little time." Solomon said.

"You know, I think we should concentrate on prom this week, and worry about college after that." Atemu said.

"Right." Heba agreed.

The four then headed upstairs.

Solomon smiled. 'I'm proud of those boys. I'm sure that they're all going to do great in whatever they do.' Solomon thought.

* * *

The following afternoon, Yugi and Yami had gone to a tuxedo rental place in order to pick up their tuxes for prom.

"I really don't like this." Yami remarked.

"Come on, Yami. You know that we need tuxes for the prom." Yugi said.

"Yeah, but I still hate them." Yami said.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Unless my memory is failing me, you have never worn one before, Yami." Yugi said.

"But I've seen myself in the mirror, and I look ridiculous." Yami said, looking at his reflection.

They were in the dressing room making sure that the tuxes fit all right.

"Yami, it's just for one night. You can deal with a tuxedo for one night." Yugi said. He took his off and got back into his school uniform.

"I guess so." Yami agreed as he did the same.

The two then went out and paid the rest of their rental fees before they left.

"I will be glad when this is over with." Yami muttered.

Yugi smiled. "It won't last as long as you think, Yami. In fact, you look really handsome in the tux." Yugi said.

"Really?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded.

Yami smiled. "Thanks." Yami said. He then sighed. "That was actually one of the things that I was worried about." Yami said.

Yugi frowned. "Why?" Yugi asked.

Yami smiled. "Yugi, you may not have noticed, but I sure have. There are still people who watch me at school, waiting to see if there is a chance that they can get me for themselves." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I have noticed, Yami, and I'm not worried. I know that you love me, so there is no reason for me to fret over you leaving me for someone else." Yugi said.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "I'm beginning to think that you're not as naive as you let people think you are." Yami said.

"Of course I'm not." Yugi said. He leaned forward and kissed Yami on the cheek before he whispered in his ear, "I can't be that naive if I give you blowjobs."

Yami chuckled. "I suppose not." Yami agreed.

That was one thing that no one else knew, and they were going to keep it that way.

* * *

~Friday~

Seto looked ready to commit murder.

"Now, Seto. Calm down." Joey said as he patted Seto's arm.

"I swear that if I hear that word once more today, I am going to kill that person." Seto growled through clenched teeth.

Tea and Tristan walked up to the group.

"So, are you guys ready for prom?" Tea asked.

"That's it!" Seto growled, jumping up.

Joey, Yami, and Atemu all kept a hold of Seto, stopping him from attacking Tea.

"What's his deal?" Tristan asked.

"Seto has heard the word prom too much today." Yugi said.

"I cannot take this anymore! I can't take that word!" Seto said.

"Take it easy, Seto! After tomorrow, you won't hear about it." Joey assured him.

"Not soon enough." Seto growled.

"Okay. Maybe we shouldn't mention that word around Seto anymore." Heba said.

Marik and Bakura looked at each other before they smirked, their devious sides coming out at the moment.

"Oh no." Malik said, covering his eyes.

"Prom! Prom! Prom!" Bakura and Marik chanted.

Seto's eyes twitched. He was becoming beyond pissed.

"Seto, do you have work at the office to do?" Joey asked.

"Yes." Seto said through his clenched teeth.

"Cut the rest of school and go do it. You don't need to be here anymore. You know everything." Joey said.

"Gladly." Seto said. He grabbed his briefcase before he left the school.

"Talk about a near massacre." Yami remarked.

Joey sighed. "I swear that Seto will go out of his mind if he hears that word much more." Joey remarked.

"Well, Seto doesn't have much longer." Yugi said.

"Thankfully." Joey agreed.

* * *

~Night of the Prom~

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba had all gotten ready for the prom. They headed downstairs.

"Well, you all look perfect." Solomon said.

"Thank, Grandpa." Yugi said.

Heba noticed the camera and groaned. "Grandpa, do you have to use the camera?" Heba asked.

"Yes. I do." Solomon answered.

"Come on. We can take the pictures and then we can head to the school." Atemu said.

Solomon took pictures of them as group and as the different couples.

"Okay! Enough!" Heba said after a dozen pictures.

Solomon chuckled.

"You realize that the only reason he took so many was because he knew that it would drive you nuts." Yugi said.

Heba sighed. "The bad part is that I do know that." Heba said.

"All right. You can go. Have fun, boys, and be careful." Solomon said.

"We will." Yami said.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Solomon said.

Yugi frowned. "Why tomorrow?" Yugi asked.

"Because I am going to be in bed by the time you get home." Solomon said.

"All right. Bye, Grandpa." Yugi said.

All four said bye before they left.

Solomon smiled. 'I remember my prom, and I'm sure that they will remember this night.' Solomon thought.

* * *

~Prom~

The four arrived at the school and walked to the gymnasium, which was where the prom was taking place that night.

There were students already there eating the snacks that were laid out, talking, and dancing. A band was playing music.

Atemu frowned. "They chose ancient Egypt for the prom theme?" Atemu asked.

Heba glanced up at his boyfriend. "You didn't know that?" Heba asked.

"No." Atemu said. He glanced down at Heba. "Did you know?" Atemu asked.

Yugi, Yami, and Heba all stared at Atemu.

"What?" Atemu asked.

"Até, everyone has known for two weeks that the prom theme was this. It's been on all the flyers for prom." Heba said.

"Oh. I never actually looked at them or paid attention to it when people were talking about what the theme of prom was." Atemu admitted.

"That sounds like you." Yami agreed.

Atemu shot Yami a glare. "Are you telling me that you knew?" Atemu asked.

"Yes. I did. I actually looked at the flyers and read them." Yami replied.

"Come on, Heba." Atemu said. He grabbed Heba by the wrist and dragged him off.

Yugi looked at Yami. "You knew that Atemu would drag Heba off like that, didn't you?" Yugi asked.

"Of course I did." Yami said. He slipped his arm around Yugi's waist. "After all, I want to spend the prom alone with my boyfriend." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "That's so sweet." Yugi said.

Yami leaned down and kissed Yugi.

"But we're still going to have to see and talk to out friends." Yugi said.

"Drat!" Yami groaned. He smiled before he said, "You can't blame a man for trying."

"No. I can't." Yugi agreed.

The two then walked over to the table and got themselves some punch.

"Hey, guys!"

Yugi and Yami looked to see a rather cheerful Ryou there with a glum-looking Bakura.

"Hey, Ryou. It's good to see that you're here." Yugi said.

"I wouldn't miss my prom for anything!" Ryou said. He was starting to show that he pregnant a little bit, although the students at school thought that Ryou was just gaining a little weight.

"Glad to be here, Bakura?" Yami asked, snickering.

Bakura glared at him. "Shut up, Pharaoh!" Bakura hissed. He glared again before he said, "I have no shame in punching your lights out!"

"Kura, stop that!" Ryou scolded.

"You, too, Yami." Yugi said, glaring at his boyfriend.

[But it's so much fun, Yugi.] Yami said.

{No, Yami. Don't press Bakura. Leave him be.} Yugi said.

Yami didn't seem thrilled, and Yugi could tell that through the link.

{Yami, do it for me, please. I want prom to be pleasant.} Yugi said.

[All right, Yugi. I'll do it for your sake.] Yami said.

Yugi smiled before he kissed Yami on the cheek. {Thank you.} Yugi said.

"Can you believe that they decided to do _this _as the prom theme?" Bakura asked.

"I know. We had enough of that when we lived in that tine." Yami said.

"Well, not everyone knows that you two originally came from ancient Egypt." Yugi said.

Ryou snickered. "Can you imagine the amount of people you would have fawning all over you if they knew that?" Ryou asked.

"Especially you, Yami. Being a former pharaoh and all." Yugi said.

"And let's not forget all the archeologists, Egyptologists, and researchers who would want to pick your brains." Yugi said.

"And do tests." Ryou added.

"Stop it!" Yami and Bakura said at the same time.

"And here I thought that it would be impossible for you two to ever agree on anything." Ryou said.

Yugi smiled at that.

"Come on, Ryou. The shrimp is getting on my nerves." Bakura said before dragging Ryou off.

Yugi laughed.

"That was rather low and cruel, Yugi." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said. He laughed. "But it was fun. You should have seen your face." Yugi said.

Yami mock glared at Yugi. "You might want to watch it, Aibou, or you might find yourself in trouble." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I'm sure." Yugi said.

Joey came over. "Hey, guys." Joey said.

"It figures that the first place you wanted to go was the snack table." Yami said.

Joey shrugged as he grabbed some snacks.

Seto simply got himself some punch.

"So, why did Bakura leave here so fast?" Joey asked.

"Yugi and Ryou were torturing us by telling us how some people would react if they knew that we were originally from ancient Egypt." Yami explained.

"I could have told you what they would end up doing." Seto said.

"No thanks." Yami said.

It wasn't long before Yami took Yugi by the arm and led him away.

"Yami, what's going on?" Yugi asked.

Yami smiled. "Well, I thought that since we were here at the prom, we should dance together." Yami said.

Yugi smiled at him. "I like that idea a lot." Yugi said.

The two then started to dance together.

* * *

Off to the side, Tea and Tristan were standing with Atemu and Heba.

"Yugi and Yami are better dancers than I thought they were." Tea said as she watched them.

"Yeah. They're great." Tristan agreed.

Atemu glanced over at Tea. "Tea, Yugi plays that DDR game with you. You knew that he was a good dancer." Atemu said.

"I didn't know that he was a good dancer as far as slow dances go." Tea clarified.

Heba looked around the room before he chuckled.

"What do you find so amusing, Little Star?" Atemu asked.

Heba turned to him. "Well, I couldn't help but notice that there are a lot of girls who don't look so thrilled at the fact that Yugi and Yami are out dancing together." Heba said.

The other three looked and saw the same thing.

"Well, that's not a surprise. Yami was the most wanted guy in school for a long time." Tristan said.

"Still is." Tea said.

"Except they aren't going to manage to break Yugi and Yami apart." Atemu said.

"Well, that doesn't stop them from wishing that it was them." Tea said.

Heba then looked out on the dance floor at where Yugi and Yami were. "They do make a great couple, though." Heba said.

"Yes. They do." Tea agreed.

* * *

Once the song was over, Yugi and Yami got off the dance floor.

"That was a great dance." Yugi said, happy to have danced with his boyfriend.

"I know." Yami said as he wrapped an arm around Yugi's waist. He was well aware of the fact that there were some girls who were watching them, and he wanted to make sure that they knew that he was taken and that they had no chance with him.

"So, enjoying yourself so far?" Yugi asked.

"I suppose so." Yami said.

Yugi looked at him questioningly.

Yami smiled. "These things remind me too much of the balls we had back in ancient Egypt, and I loathed them." Yami said.

"I thought that that was more because of the women that threw themselves at you than anything else." Yugi said.

"Yes. That was a large part of it." Yami agreed.

"Well, this is different." Yugi said.

"I know it is, Yugi. I'm still not a big fan of them." Yami said.

"You know that we didn't have to come." Yugi said.

"I know that we didn't have to, but I didn't want us missing our prom." Yami said. He chuckled. "Besides, when else could I have shown off to the whole student body that you are my boyfriend." Yami said.

"Yami Sennen, are you trying to make the girls who are still pining over you upset over this?" Yugi asked.

"No, I am not. I want them to know that I am taken, and that they don't stand a chance with me." Yami said.

"That I can live with." Yugi said.

"Good." Yami said as he pulled Yugi even closer.

* * *

After being at the prom for two hours, Yugi and Yami decided to leave.

Just as they were leaving, they heard shouts and screams.

"What the-" Yami started as he looked back.

"Yami." Yugi said.

Yami looked over and saw where Yugi was pointing.

"Was that-" Yami started.

"That was Marik and Malik." Yugi said.

"What did they do?" Yami asked.

The two went back in and saw that the entire gym was wet.

"My guess is that they made the sprinkler system go off." Yugi said.

"I thought that Malik wanted to come." Yami said.

"That right there should have been a clue that something was up. Malik hates these things." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami said.

"Shall we leave?" Yugi asked.

"Right behind you." Yami said.

The two left and headed back to the Game Shop.

Solomon was already in bed, so the two snuck up to their room quietly.

"What now?" Yami asked.

"Well, my original plan had been to give it another try." Yugi said.

Yami looked at Yugi in surprise. "You mean making love?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded.

Yami walked over to him. "So, still not sure you're ready?" Yami asked.

"No. I don't think that any Yami is going to be getting any tonight." Yugi said. He then added, "Except for Bakura."

Yami's eyes widened in realization. "That's right. This is that three-day period where you could get pregnant." Yami said.

"And I don't want to be teenage parents like Ryou and Bakura." Yugi said.

"That makes two of us." Yami agreed.

Yugi smiled. "We can try later. I think that we could just watch a movie in here today." Yugi said.

Yami nodded.

The two put in a movie and then snuggled up together on the bed, watching the movie.

Until they ended up in a make-out session.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Some Yami/Yugi lovin'.

Also, there is a poll up, so please give me your input.

R&R.


	38. First Time

Here's the next chapter.

THERE IS A LEMON IN THIS CHAPTER, SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE LEMONS, SKIP THE WRITING BETWEEN THE BOLD LETTERING! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 38- First Time

Yugi and Yami woke up the morning after prom. Yami had his arms wrapped tightly around Yugi, and Yugi had had his head lying on Yami's chest.

"So, how did you sleep?" Yami asked.

"I slept fine." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "Well, since you used me as a pillow, I believe that you slept fine." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Well, you do make a pretty good pillow." Yugi agreed.

Yami smiled at that.

"In any case, I think that we need to get up." Yugi said.

"Why? I am perfectly happy with where we are." Yami said.

"Because it's already eleven in the morning. We need to get up." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "Oh, all right." Yami said, finally letting go of Yugi.

Yugi then sat up. "Don't worry about it, Yami. I can make it up to you later." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "I'm looking forward to that. It should be fun." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "You can't wait until this three-day period is over." Yugi said.

"No. I can't." Yami agreed before he pulled Yugi down into a heated kiss.

Yugi moaned into the kiss, enjoying it.

"BOYS! ALL OF YOU GET UP NOW! YOU'RE NOT SLEEPING ALL DAY LONG!" Solomon shouted up the stairs.

Yugi and Yami both jumped.

"Something tells me we need to get up and get showers." Yugi said.

"Right behind you." Yami said.

The two got out of bed.

Yugi went to get a shower first since both knew that Atemu and Heba still wouldn't get out of bed for a while, even though they wouldn't have been able to do anything the night before.

Once Yugi was done, Yami went and took his own shower.

The two then headed downstairs once they were both fully dressed.

Solomon turned to them. "Well, I'm glad to see that two of you actually listened to me." Solomon said.

"We were about to get up anyway, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"Well, eat something." Solomon said.

The two got themselves a bowl of cereal before they sat down to eat.

Solomon sighed. "Those two must have worn themselves out last night." Solomon said.

Yami snickered. "I really don't think that they were doing anything, Grandpa." Yami said.

Solomon looked at Yami in surprise. "And why is that?" Solomon said.

"This is that three-day period, Grandpa. Unless Heba wants to be in the same situation Ryou's in, he won't have done anything." Yugi said.

"Ah! Well, let's hope that they played it safe." Solomon said.

"We did." Heba said.

The three looked to see Atemu and Heba standing there.

"Have fun last night?" Yami asked innocently.

Atemu glared at his brother. "You know we couldn't do anything." Atemu said. He let out a frustrated sigh. "Prom night is supposed to be fun." Atemu said.

Solomon laughed. "Believe me. You're better off not doing anything and ending up with a baby." Solomon said.

"I guess that's true." Atemu agreed.

"Trust me when I say that. I know that feeling." Solomon said.

All four boys stared at their grandfather.

"You mean-" Yugi started.

Solomon chuckled. "I mean that your grandmother and I ended up with your father as a result of prom night." Solomon said.

"I never knew that." Heba remarked.

"For good reason. Being a teenage father is hard. I know that from experience. Of course, I wouldn't have traded your father for anything, but being a teenage father is very hard." Solomon said. He then laughed. "Of course, being an old man and raising teenagers isn't a walk in the park, either." Solomon said.

"I suppose not." Yugi agreed.

* * *

Later, Yugi and Yami were at the kitchen table filling our forms that they needed to send to Harvard.

"You know, I'm glad that we were able to get into Harvard. It's a hard school to get into, not to mention the fact that it's one of the best school's in the USA." Yami said.

"I know what you mean. It's a good thing that we both took English in school and became fluent in it. We're going to need it." Yugi said.

The two kept on filling out their forms.

"Yami, did you ever decide which branch of medicine you were going to go in?" Yugi asked.

Yami smiled. "I sure did. I decided to go into cardiology." Yami said.

Yugi chuckled. "I wonder what everyone you knew from ancient Egypt would say if they found out that you were planning to become a doctor." Yugi said.

"I'd be in a lot of trouble for it." Yami answered, grimacing.

Yugi then understood what Yami meant. "That's right. In ancient Egypt, it was a crime to cut into a human body." Yugi said.

"Exactly. Now, it's nothing." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Well, I think that it's an excellent field." Yugi said.

"What about you? What are you going to go into?" Yami asked.

"I think I'm going to go into general surgery." Yugi said.

"That's a good field, too." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said.

The two soon had their forms filled out.

"Well, at least we can get these in the mail soon." Yami said.

"Yeah, but we'll have to go to the USA for the orientation in July so that we can get our classes set up." Yugi said.

"I know. That'll be interesting." Yami said.

The two got their papers ready for the mail and set it with other things that needed to be mailed. They then headed upstairs.

"So, what should we do now?" Yami asked.

Both knew that the rest of their friends were off with their boyfriend or girlfriend, so it would just be the two of them for a while.

"Well, I suppose we could go out for a while." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "Sounds good to me. What should we do?" Yami asked.

"I'm not sure. What do you want to do?" Yugi asked.

Yami then smiled. "You know, I think that we should go to Kaibaland. We haven't gone there, just the two of us, in a while, and I think that we should go there alone." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Great idea." Yugi said. 'And tonight will be fun. Yami didn't realize that yesterday was the last day of the three-day period, so we can try to make love tonight.' Yugi thought. He had decided not to tell Yami so that he could surprise him that night.

* * *

~Kaibaland~

Yugi and Yami had gone to Kaibaland and found that it wasn't too crowded for a Sunday.

"I expected it to be more crowded then this." Yami commented.

Yugi slipped his hand into Yami's. "Yami, be thankful that it's not too crowded for once." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "I suppose you're right about that. We'll have an easier time with the crowds being rather thin." Yami agreed.

Yugi smiled. "Good." Yugi said.

The two then went off and started to see which ride they wanted to ride first.

"How about we go on the Blue Eyes Jet first?" Yugi asked.

The Blue Eyes Jet was rollercoaster with cars designed like the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Sure thing." Yami said.

The two sat by each other in the car, and it wasn't long before the ride started. It was a fast rollercoaster, so the car was zipping through the ride, and it was soon over, but it was a major adrenaline rush for everyone who rode it.

"That was fun." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I knew that you'd like it." Yugi said.

Yami slipped an arm around Yugi's waist. "And you love that ride as well." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Yes. I do." Yugi said. He glanced around before his eyes brightened. "Come on! Let's go on the Magicians' Coaster." Yugi said before he started to drag Yami along.

Yami went along willingly with Yugi, knowing that his Hikari loved to go on this ride.

Each car on the Magician's Coaster only fit two people, so Yugi and Yami went together in one car. The car would go through a series of tunnels, which would show different Magician's from the Duel Monsters fighting other monsters from the game. It was a holographic type of ride and went slower than the previous ride they were on.

Once the two were through with the ride, they walked on.

They went on several more rides.

Yami looked over at his Hikari and said, "I think that we should stop with rides for a bit, Yugi."

Yugi glanced over at Yami. "Why?" Yugi asked.

Yami's stomach growled. "That's why." Yami said.

"Can we go on one more ride, Yami? Please?" Yugi asked, turning on the puppy-dog eyes.

Yami mentally groaned. 'Not the eyes. Anything but those.' Yami thought. It took a matter of moments for Yami's willpower to break down. "Oh, all right. One more." Yami agreed.

"Thank you, Yami!" Yugi said brightly.

Yami smiled. 'I can never deny Yugi anything. It doesn't matter what it is.' Yami thought,

The two then headed for the ride that Yugi wanted to ride.

"So, what ride is it that you want to go on, Aibou?" Yami asked

Yugi looked up at Yami. "The Kuriboh Wheel." Yugi said.

The Kuriboh Wheel was just a Ferris wheel.

Yami didn't care for that ride too much, but he would willingly go on the ride simply because it was what Yugi wanted.

'What Yugi wants Yugi gets.' Yami thought, quoting Bakura.

Bakura had made fun of Yami earlier in the year by saying that anything Yugi wanted, Yami would give him. At the time, Yami had argued with Bakura over the fact, but now, he knew that Bakura had been right.

'Of course, that saying is true with all Yamis. They give their Hikari whatever they want.' Yami thought.

The two headed over to the ride and went on it.

Unlike other Ferris wheels, this one went faster than normal.

Once it was over, Yami said, "Can we please go get something to eat now?"

"You must be hungry." Yugi said.

"Yes, I am." Yami replied.

Yugi laughed. "Am I going to have to start calling you Joey now?" Yugi asked.

Yami mock glared at Yugi. "Very funny, Aibou." Yami said.

"Well, I thought that it was funny." Yugi said.

Yami took Yugi by the hand. "Come on. Let's get something to eat before I die of starvation." Yami stated.

"Joey." Yugi said.

Yami groaned as he dragged Yugi off.

The two went to one of the cafés that were around the park and went in to eat.

Yami ordered himself a double cheeseburger with everything, fried, and a Coke to drink.

Yugi ordered himself two slices of pepperoni pizza as well as a Dr. Pepper to drink.

The two then sat down to eat.

"Happy now?" Yugi asked.

"Very." Yami said.

"Good." Yugi said.

Once the two were done eating, they left the café.

"So, what should we do now?" Yugi asked.

"Well, I was thinking that we could play some of the games now. I've ridden about all of the rides that I can handle today." Yami said.

"Okay." Yugi agreed.

The two headed to the area of the amusement park that had all of the games set up.

"Come on." Yami said. He walked over to the booth that was where you were given five rings, and you had to try to land them around the rings of the bottles that were set up.

"You know that this is a hard game, Yami." Yugi said.

"I know, but I love a challenge. You know that." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said.

Yami threw the rings and missed the first four times.

The man who was operating the booth was watching. 'He'll never make it. No one wins at this game.' the man thought.

Yami threw the fifth ring, and it landed on one of the bottles.

"Great job, Yami!" Yugi said, smiling at his boyfriend.

"Thanks." Yami said.

The man at the booth, who was rather stunned at the fact that Yami had actually won the game, handed Yami his prize, which was a stuffed Marshmellon.

"Here, Yugi." Yami said, handing it to Yugi.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

The two then walked off.

"So, which one next?" Yugi asked.

Yami scanned over the games until he saw the one that he wanted to play. "I think that I'll play this one." Yami said, walking over.

The game that Yami wanted to play was one of the basketball games. All he had to do was land one of three baskets, and he would win a prize.

'Yami has this easy. He loves playing basketball.' Yugi thought.

Yami paid for the game, and he threw the first ball, which landed in the next.

"You won." the girl said, smiling seductively at Yami.

Yugi growled at that.

"I know." Yami said. He went ahead, threw the other balls in, and sank both of them.

"You're great." the girl said.

"Thanks." Yami said off-handedly, not paying attention to the fact that the girl was attempting to flirt with him.

The girl handed him a basketball that had several different Duel Monsters on it, hoping that Yami would pay attention to her.

"Come on, Yami. Let's go." Yugi said. He took Yami by the hand and pulled him away from the girl.

Yami was rather surprised by the fact that Yugi was dragging him off. "Something wrong?" Yami asked.

"In all honesty, that girl was trying to flirt with you, and I didn't like it at all." Yugi answered.

"Oh. I didn't notice." Yami said.

Yugi looked at Yami. "How could you not notice the fact that she was looking at you like she wanted to rip your clothes off?" Yugi asked.

"She did?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded.

"Oh. I guess the only person's looks I pay attention to you are yours." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I guess I'm being jealous for no reason." Yugi said.

"I find it rather cute." Yami said, kissing Yugi on the cheek.

Yugi laughed at that. He then found a game that he enjoyed. "Come on." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. He knew that Yugi loved the racing game where you shoot water into the target to make your car move across the board the fastest. "Okay, Yugi." Yami said.

Yugi sat down and started to play the game once there were enough platters.

Yami watched as the car that Yugi was at went across the board, and he saw that Yugi was already way ahead of the others. 'Yugi has this won.' Yami thought.

As Yami had thought, Yugi won, and he was given a stuffed Celtic Guardian as his prize.

"I knew you would win." Yami said.

"Well, I am good at the game." Yugi said.

The two went on and played more games while they were out.

* * *

~That Night~

Yami was laying on his and Yugi's bed that night, reading a book. However, his mind was on the afternoon that he and Yugi had spent together.

'I'm glad that Yugi and I were able to spend this time alone. I love spending time alone with him like that.' Yami thought with a smile. He also loved the way Yugi's eyes would light up like a little kid's when they would go on the different rides. He chuckled to himself. 'Of course, I'm the only one who knows that Yugi's not innocent like a little child.' Yami thought.

Yugi opened the door to walk into the room. He heard Yami chuckle. "What's so funny?" Yugi asked.

"Nothing." Yami said, smiling at his Hikari.

Yugi walked over and sat down on the bed by Yami. "So, what did you plan on us doing tonight?" Yugi asked.

"I didn't have anything special in mind." Yami said.

"Well," Yugi said, moving to straddle Yami at the waist, "I had a few ideas."

"Like what?" Yami asked, raising an eyebrow.

Instead of answering, Yugi leaned down and kissed Yami.

Yami closed his eyes and kissed Yugi back. He raised his hands and tangled them into Yugi's hair.

Yugi let out a moan at that as he ran his tongue over Yami's bottom lip. Yami opened his mouth, and Yugi immediately slipped his tongue inside of Yami's mouth, starting to map out Yami's mouth. This time, Yami let out the moan. Yugi made sure to stroke every inch of Yami's mouth before he started a tongue duel with Yami. Yami fought with Yugi, and he was easily able to win, slipping his own tongue into Yugi's mouth, making sure to stroke every inch of his Hikari's mouth.

When the need for hair hit, the two broke apart, panting.

"So, you had a make-out session in mind?" Yami asked.

"Not exactly." Yugi said as he slipped his hand down the front of Yami's boxers and stroked his member.

Yami let out a gasp at that. He hadn't expected Yugi to do that!

Yugi smirked at his Yami. "So, do you get my idea now? I was thinking something naughtier than making out." Yugi said.

"But the three-day period-" Yami started.

"Oh. Did I forget to mention that yesterday was the last day of it?" Yugi asked, smiling innocently.

Yami's eyes widened in surprise at that.

"Silly me. I must have forgotten." Yugi said, never letting the innocent smile leave his lips although his eyes showed less than innocent intentions.

"You planned this!" Yami said accusingly.

"Yes. Do you mind?" Yugi asked.

Yami growled before he easily flipped them over so that Yugi was on the bottom. "What do you think?" Yami asked.

Yugi smiled. "You might want to put up a silencing spell. I really don't want anyone to hear this." Yugi said.

Yami did as Yugi said and put a silencing spell on the room. "I'd better lock the door." Yami said.

"Already done." Yugi said, smiling. "I locked the door when I came into the room." Yugi told Yami.

"Good." Yami said. He leaned down and kissed Yugi rather roughly.

Yugi let out a moan and raised his hands to tangle them in Yami's hair.

Yami easily forced his way into Yugi's mouth and started to explore.

Soon, the need for air forced them to break apart.

"Are you sure, Yugi?" Yami asked, wanting to make sure.

Yugi smiled. "More than sure." Yugi said, purposely rubbing his clothed erection against Yami's.

**LEMON STARTS HERE!**

Yami groaned at that. He then quickly pulled Yugi's shirt over his head and threw it to the side. He then leaned down and started to plant butterfly kisses down Yugi's neck. When he reached Yugi's pulse point, he started to suck on that spot.

Yugi let out a loud moan at that.

Yami sucked on that spot until a nice bruise had formed. He then kissed on down Yugi's chest and planted soft kisses all over Yugi's chest. When he reached one of Yugi's nipples, he took it into his mouth and started sucking on it.

Yugi arched up at that as he gasped.

Yami sucked on the nipple until it was hard before he turned his attention to the other nipple, giving it the same treatment. He then kissed on down Yugi's stomach to his navel. He then dipped his tongue into Yugi's navel several times.

Yugi was already panting and sweating slightly.

Yami smiled. He then pulled Yugi's pajamas pants and boxers off before he tossed them into the floor.

Yugi gasped as the cool air hit his member.

Yami then placed his hands on Yugi's hips before he leaned down and licked the tip of Yugi's member, making Yugi jump.

Yugi then reached down and tangled his hands in Yami's hair.

Yami slowly took Yugi's member into his mouth. He then started to suck on Yugi's member slowly.

"Ah! Yami!" Yugi moaned as Yami sucked on Yugi's member.

Yami then started to suck even harder on Yugi's member, enjoying the sounds that his Hikari was making.

Yugi tried to buck his hips up into Yami's mouth, but Yami's strong hold on Yugi's hips kept him from doing it.

Yami then sucked very hard on Yugi's member, trying to force Yugi to release.

It didn't take much to force Yugi to release. "YAMI!" Yugi cried as he released into Yami's mouth.

Yami swallowed every drop that Yugi released before he let go of Yugi's member.

Yugi was sweating and panting now.

Yami smirked as he looked down at Yugi. He loved the way Yugi looked after giving him a blowjob, but he was ready to see what Yugi looked like after making love. He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it into the floor. He then took off his boxers and threw them into the floor as well, leaving him naked. He reached over and opened the nightstand. He then reached into the drawer and pulled out a bottle of lube that they kept there.

Yugi had recovered by then and was looking forward to this.

Yami looked down at Yugi. "Yugi, are you sure about this?" Yami asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, Yami. Now, please get on with it." Yugi begged.

Yami smirked. "You know, I like seeing you beg." Yami said.

"Yaaaammmiii!" Yugi whined.

Yami chuckled. "Well, that can wait, I suppose." Yami said. He opened the lube and coated three fingers in it. He then shifted his body so that he was between Yugi's legs.

Yugi was tense, but it was from excitement.

Yami could tell why Yugi was tense through the link, so he found Yugi's entrance and rubbed his finger around Yugi's entrance to loosen the muscles before he slipped his finger into Yugi.

Yugi gasped at the sudden intrusion and slight pain he felt, and he tensed up even more.

"Yugi, relax. It'll be much easier if you do." Yami told him.

Yugi nodded and forced his body to relax.

Once Yami was certain that Yugi was relaxed, he started to pump the finger in and out of Yugi.

It wasn't long before Yugi was moving against Yami's finger.

Yami gently slipped a second finger into Yugi.

Yugi stilled and tensed again at the feeling of Yami's fingers in him.

"Yugi, relax." Yami said.

Yugi forced himself to relax once more.

Yami then moved his fingers inside of Yugi and started to move them in a scissor-like motion.

Yugi winced slightly at the pain.

Yami started to move his fingers around, searching for that spot that would have Yugi forgetting the pain.

"YAMI!" Yugi cried.

Yami smirked, knowing that he had found that spot. He slipped in the third finger and started to move them in a scissor-like motion, making sure to brush against Yugi's prostate.

Yugi was crying out each time Yami brushed against his prostate. He loved the feeling.

Once Yami was sure that Yugi was ready, he removed his fingers.

Yugi let out a groan of disappointment.

Yami chuckled. "Don't worry, Yugi. You'll get what you want soon enough." Yami said. He then poured some of the lube into his hand before he coated his member in it. He then positioned himself at Yugi's entrance. He took Yugi's hands in his and said, "Ready?""Yes." Yugi said.

Yami slowly pushed into Yugi, making sure to be gentle with his Hikari.

Yugi gasped in pain. This hurt worse than the fingers had.

Yami immediately stopped. "Yugi, are you-" Yami started.

Yugi looked up at him. "I'm okay. I just have to get used to it. Keep going." Yugi said.

Yami nodded and kept going, though he did it slowly. He didn't stop until he was in to the hilt.

Yugi winced at the pain that made itself known in his lower back.

Yami whispered sweet nothings in Yugi's ear to calm him down.

Once the pain eased, Yugi rolled his hips experimentally.

Yami groaned at the feeling.

Realizing that he had done that, Yugi repeated the motion.

Yami got the hint, and he pulled out slowly before he pushed back in slowly.

Both groaned at the feeling.

Yami continued with his slow pace, pulling out slowly and thrusting back in slowly.

Yugi was soon unsatisfied with the slow pace. "Yami, please. Go faster!" Yugi panted.

"As you wish." Yami said. He then started a faster, harder pace.

It wasn't long before the two had a steady rhythm going.

Yami started searching for that spot that would have Yugi crying out again.

"YAMI!" Yugi cried as he arched his back and wrapped his legs around Yami's waist.

The new position allowed Yami to go even deeper into Yugi, and Yami did just that as he continued to thrust into Yugi's prostate.

Yugi started to drag his nails down Yami's back in his pleasure.

"Yami! Don't stop! Ah! So good!" Yugi cried out.

"Yugi! So tight! So good!" Yami groaned as he continued to thrust in Yugi.

Their love making was fast paced, but Yami could tell that he was getting close to end, so he reached between their bodies and grasped Yugi's already heated member, starting to stroke him in time with his thrusts.

It didn't take much to force Yugi to his end. "YAMI!" Yugi cried as he released all over his and Yami's chests.

Yami felt Yugi's walls clamp down on him, and he reached his end as well. "YUGI!" Yami groaned as he released inside of Yugi.

The two were tense after their releases.

Yami then pulled gently out of Yugi before he rolled over and collapsed on the bed beside Yugi.

**LEMON ENDS HERE!**

The two fought to regain their breath as they came down from their high.

Once he recovered, Yami reached over and pulled Yugi close to him. "That was amazing." Yami said.

"It was." Yugi agreed.

The two lay there for a moment.

Yugi then rose up to look at Yami. "I'm sorry that I made us wait so long." Yugi said.

Yami leaned up to kiss Yugi. "It was worth the wait. Besides, I wanted you to be ready when we made love for the first time." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I'm glad." Yugi said.

"Although your brother and grandfather might attempt to commit murder when they find out." Yami said.

"How are they going to know?" Yugi asked.

"Because by tomorrow morning, you are going to be limping, and I know that they are going to know **why **you are limping." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Yami, they are going to know that it was my choice, so they aren't going to do anything to you." Yugi said. He leaned down and kissed Yami again. "Besides, there's no way that I am going to let them take you away from me." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "Thank you." Yami said.

Yugi chuckled. "I think that I could get used to this." Yugi said.

"I can, too, but I believe that there are going to be three days a month that we **can't **do anything." Yami said.

"I know, Yami, and we are going to wait until we are ready to start a family." Yugi said.

"Until then, we can just enjoy being together." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I'm tired." Yami said.

"I am, too. I think hat we should get some sleep." Yugi said.

"Right behind you." Yami said.

Yugi lay down and rested his head on Yami's chest while Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi.

"Good night, Yugi. Love you." Yami said.

"Night. Love you, too." Yugi said.

* * *

Hope you liked. I know that everyone has been waiting anxiously for this chapter, so I hope you all enjoyed it.

Next: Graduation.

R&R.


	39. Graduation

Here's the next chapter.

{Blah blah blah}- Yugi to Yami

[Blah blah blah]- Yami to Yugi.

Just so everyone knows, this week is the week of my exams, so updates may not happen again until Friday or Saturday. It depends on how my studying goes, but I'll be concentrating on studying a lot.

Also, on deviantart, a member called yamino-kanji has made a doujinshi of this story. They do have my permission to do this. If anyone wants to take a look at it, the website is on my profile.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 39- Graduation

The following morning, the sun shone in through the window, hitting Yami right on the face. He scrunched up his face and opened his eyes before closing them again as the sun hit him right in his eyes. He groaned. 'One of these days, I am going to remember to close those curtains when we go to bed.' Yami thought, rather irritated.

Yugi was still nestled in Yami's arms sound asleep.

Yami looked down at his Hikari and smiled at Yugi. [Last night was wonderful.] Yami thought, not realizing that the thought had slipped through the mind link.

{Glad you think so.} Yugi replied.

Yami raised an eyebrow. [You're awake?] Yami asked.

{Yes.} Yugi said.

Yami shook his head. "And you didn't say anything why?" Yami asked.

Yugi opened and turned so that he could look Yami in the face. "Because I was rather comfortable where I was." Yugi answered.

Yami chuckled. "I know the feeling." Yami said.

"Although we're going to be forced to get up before long." Yugi said.

"Why?" Yami asked.

"Have you ever known Grandpa to let us sleep in too late?" Yugi asked.

"No." Yam said.

"There you go." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "Well, we could stay in bed a while longer." Yami said. He then leaned down and kissed Yugi.

Yugi didn't seem to mind that idea since he raised his arms and tangled his hands in Yami's hair. He then opened his mouth, and Yami slipped his tongue into Yugi's mouth starting to roam around the inside of Yugi's mouth.

"BOYS! GET OUT OF BED NOW! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SLEEP ALL DAY!" Solomon shouted from downstairs.

Yami broke the kiss and sighed. "Well, we might as well get out of bed. By the time we get showers, I'm sure that Atemu and Heba still won't be out of bed." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I suppose so." Yugi agreed. He then sat up and winced as a bolt of pain shot down his spine.

"Are you okay?" Yami asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I guess my back is going to hurt for a while." Yugi said.

Yami started to rub Yugi's back. "Yeah, and I am going to die." Yami said.

"Why?" Yugi asked, looking back at his boyfriend.

"Because you are going to be limping, which is going to give away what we did last night, and your brother and grandfather are going to commit murder." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "No, they won't, Yami. It was my choice, so they won't do anything." Yugi said.

"I hope you're right." Yami said.

"Stop worrying." Yugi said.

The two got out of bed.

"Maybe you should sit in a tub of hot water." Yami said.

"I think I will." Yugi agreed.

"I'll grab a shower real quick, and then it'll be all yours." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks." Yugi said.

Yami got his clothes and went to get a shower.

Yugi had pulled his boxers and sleep pants back on before he sat down on the bed. 'Last night was great. I know now that making love is a lot different from what happened before. With Yami, it was perfect. I'm glad that I'm finally to the point that I can make love with Yami.' Yugi thought with a smile.

It wasn't long before Yami came back into the room. "It's all yours, Yugi." Yami said.

"Okay." Yugi said. He grabbed his own clothes and headed for the bathroom.

Yami smiled. 'Well, last night was perfect. I know that I've wanted Yugi for a long time, but waiting was the best thing for us.' Yami thought. He then headed downstairs.

Solomon turned to him. "Morning, Yami." Solomon said."Morning, Grandpa." Yami said.

"Are the others up?" Solomon asked.

"I don't know about Atemu and Heba, but I do know that Yugi is awake. He's in the bathroom now. He's taking a bath this morning." Yami said.

"All right." Solomon said. He was making breakfast.

"Anything I can do to help?" Yami asked.

"If you could just set the table, it would help. I've got the rest of this." Solomon answered.

Yami nodded and got the plates and forks before he set the table for five people.

About five minutes later, Yugi came downstairs. "Morning, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"Morning, Yugi." Solomon said. He looked over at his grandson and instantly noticed that he was limping. He looked from Yugi to Yami and back to Yugi.

Yami gulped.

"I have just one question." Solomon said.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Yes, Grandpa. It was my choice." Yugi said.

"Okay then." Solomon said before he turned back to his cooking.

[That went better than I thought.] Yami said.

{I told you, Yami. As long as it was my choice, Grandpa is not going to say anything.} Yugi said.

Solomon then turned back to them. "One other thing." Solomon said.

'Now I die.' Yami thought.

Yugi sighed. "Yes, Grandpa. We are being careful, and we're going to avoid the days that we know I could get pregnant." Yugi said.

"Good." Solomon said before he went back to cooking again.

{You can relax, Yami. Grandpa isn't going to do anything to you. We've been together for almost a year now, so he's not going to say anything. He just doesn't want us to be teenage parents, which I can understand.} Yugi said.

[I know. I suppose the one that I'll have to worry about committing murder is Heba. You know his temper.] Yami said.

{Yami, Heba will be like Grandpa. As long as it was my choice, it won't matter to him.} Yugi said. He then added as an afterthought, {Although that doesn't mean that he won't threaten your life.}

[I know. Heba's good at that.] Yami replied.

It wasn't long before the pancakes, bacon, and sausage was on the table.

"ATEMU! HEBA! GET OUT OF BED NOW! BREAKFAST IS READY!" Solomon shouted up the stairs.

Yugi glanced at Yami. "You think we should avoid going to their room?" Yugi asked.

"I would." Yugi said.

Solomon then remembered something. "Didn't you say that you were in the middle of that three-day period?" Solomon asked, looking horrified.

Yugi waved him off. "Calm down, Grandpa. Prom day was the last day of the three-day period. Trust me. He," Yugi said, motioning to Yami, "wouldn't have touched me since I don't want to be a teenage father, and I have no doubt that Heba feels the same."

Solomon breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." Solomon said.

Yami chuckled. "About to have a heart attack, Grandpa?" Yami asked.

"I really don't want to be a great-grandfather yet." Solomon answered with a smile.

"Believe me, Grandpa. Yami and I are going to wait until we're done with college and have steady jobs before we even consider having a family." Yugi said.

"Good." Solomon said.

A few moments later, Atemu and Heba came down the stairs.

"What's been going on?" Atemu asked.

"Oh, Yugi and I were just reassuring Grandpa that there's no possible way Heba will be able to get pregnant right now. He thought that they were still in the middle of that three-day period." Yami explained.

"Grandpa, Atemu would have several broken bones if he even tried to get me to do anything during that period." Heba said.

Atemu grimaced. "And I'm sure that I would be in pain for quite some time if I attempted something that stupid." Atemu said.

Yami snickered. "Just think about what he would do to you if you actually managed to get him to do something." Yami said.

Atemu paled at that thought.

"He'd die." Heba said.

"Well, sit down and eat." Solomon said.

The five sat down and started eating.

"So, did you two decide what college you're going to?" Solomon asked, looking over at Atemu and Heba.

"We're both going to Cairo University." Atemu answered.

"What sparked that decision?" Yami asked.

"Because Cairo University is the best place to go to get an education in Egyptology." Heba said.

"Heba, you already know everything that you could possibly want to know because you lived back in ancient Egypt." Yami said.

Heba rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes. I'm certain that people will believe me when I say that I'm the reincarnation of a man who was married to a prince of Egypt five thousand years ago, and I remember everything about that time. I'm sure that would go over well." Heba said sarcastically.

"Point made." Yami said.

"What about you, Atemu?" Yugi asked.

"Might as well go with your strengths, and I don't exactly have an interest in anything else besides that." Atemu said.

"Makes sense." Yami agreed.

"Besides, I don't think that I would have the stomach to cut into people." Atemu said.

"Well, I find it an interesting concept." Yami said.

Solomon chuckled. "And I'm certain that everyone you knew in ancient Egypt would be thrilled at the thought." Solomon said.

"I know." Yami said.

"Well, it may not have been something that was not looked highly upon back in ancient Egypt, but at least you're able to do it now and can do something good because of it." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami agreed.

The group soon finished eating, and the group carried their dishes tot eh sink.

"Atemu. Heba. You two wash the dishes." Solomon said.

"Why us?" Heba asked.

"Because Yami and Yugi did it yesterday. I'll be in the shop." Solomon said before he left the house and headed into the shop.

"I hate this." Atemu said.

"It could be worse." Yami said.

"How?" Atemu asked.

"You could be forced to do inventory." Yami said.

"Good point." Atemu agreed.

Heba then noticed the fact that Yugi was limping. "Yugi, why are you limping?" Heba asked.

"I could ask you the same." Yugi replied.

Heba's eyes widened in realization.

'Here it comes.' Yami thought.

"YAMI! I'LL KILL YOU!" Heba shouted as he lunged for Yami.

Atemu grabbed his boyfriend by the waist and held him back as Yami dove behind Yugi for safety.

Heba glared at Yami.

"Heba, stop glaring at my boyfriend. Yes, Yami and I made love last night, and it was my choice, so get off this kick." Yugi said.

"But-" Heba started.

"You had to know we'd start at some point." Yugi said.

"I guess I just wasn't expecting it now." Heba admitted.

"Well, you're going to have to deal with it now." Yugi said.

"Okay. Fine. Sorry, Yami." Heba said.

"Sure." Yami said.

Atemu, once he was sure that Heba wasn't going to try to murder Yami, let his boyfriend go.

Heba and Atemu then started to wash the dishes while Yugi and Yami headed into the living room to watch TV.

* * *

~Monday Morning~

"This is getting really annoying." Joey muttered.

Seto rolled his eyes. "We only have two week of school left, Puppy. I think that you can stand this." Seto said.

"Yeah, but we're going to have to have those final exams. I hate those." Joey complained.

The entire group shook their heads at this.

"Joey, you can deal with it." Yami said.

"Of course you're not worried. You're a straight A student." Joey said.

"If you wanted to, you could be a straight A student, Joey." Tea said.

"So what?" Joey asked.

The entire group shook their heads.

"Look at it this way, Joey. Three weeks from tomorrow, we graduate, and you won't have to come back to Domino High again." Heba said.

"Unless you come back for a high school reunion." Ryou said.

"Not happening!" Joey said quickly.

"Ditto!" Bakura agreed.

"Same here!" Marik added.

"And I never thought that I would live to see the day that you three would agree on anything." Malik said.

The school bell rang.

"We'd better get to class." Serenity said.

The group headed inside the school to get to their class.

* * *

~One Week Later~

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba all arrived home.

"Geez. I can't believe all that we have to study for these exams. It's going to take two weeks just to get all the information processed." Heba said.

"You've got a week." Yugi said.

Heba sighed. "I'd better get started now." Heba said.

Yami set his book bag down and noticed that the mail was there. He also noticed that there were four large envelopes. He looked at them before he said, "Guys, we had stuff from our colleges to come."

The others instantly took notice of this and opened their envelopes.

"It looks like it's a lot of information about what we need to do beforehand." Yugi said.

"Yeah. It tells about the apartments that we can rent on campus, the classes, the faculty, and all that." Yami said.

"Same here." Atemu said.

Heba glanced over at Yami and Yugi. "What are you two going to do? Live on campus?" Heba asked.

"Yeah. We think that it'll be the easiest if we just live on campus. We can rent one of the apartments together." Yugi said.

"That's what we're going to do." Atemu said.

"We have a lot that we need to get sent back to them." Yugi said.

"Yeah, and our orientation for class is in July. We're going to have to head out to America for a week." Yami said.

"Good thing you two are fluent in English." Atemu said.

"I know." Yami said.

"Well, Atemu and I are going to have to head out to Cairo in July, too. We have to do the same thing." Heba said.

"We'd better let Grandpa know." Yami said.

"We can do that later. After all, this is Grandpa's busiest time of the day in the shop." Yugi said.

"We'd better get this stuff filled out." Atemu said.

The four then headed upstairs to start filling things out.

* * *

"Well, it sounds like you are going to have your hands full." Solomon said.

"Yeah. We're all going to have to get our classes and all set up." Yami said.

"Better you than me." Solomon said.

"Grandpa, were you planning on us going on a vacation?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, I am. Good thing I decided that we would go in June." Solomon said with a smile.

"Where are we going?" Yami asked.

"You'll find out after your graduation." Solomon answered.

"Speaking of which, we're going to have to start studying for our exams." Yugi said as they cleared the table.

"Then go." Solomon said.

"What about the dishes?" Heba asked.

"I'll do them. I believe that you four have more important things to do." Solomon said.

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba all headed up the stairs then.

Solomon smiled. 'I'm glad that they're all going to college. They've certainly got their lives together.' Solomon thought.

* * *

~Last Day of School~

"WE ARE DONE!" Joey shouted excitedly as he jumped up into the air.

Seto covered his face, embarrassed at the way his Hikari was acting at the moment.

"Um, Joey. You need to calm down." Yami said, watching his friend rather uneasily.

Joey looked over at Yami. "Why?" Joey asked.

"Because you're making a total ass of yourself." Bakura answered.

Ryou smacked Bakura in the back of the head.

"OW! That hurt!" Bakura shouted, glaring over at his Hikari.

Ryou simply glared back at him. "You know better than to talk like that, Bakura! We talked about the language thing!" Ryou snapped.

"That was after the baby was born." Bakura muttered, keeping his voice low.

"Well, you might as well start practicing that now because it will take until the baby is born for you to stop using that type of language so much." Ryou said.

Bakura started muttering under his breath about how unfair it was that he was being forced to do this.

Ryou ignored it.

"However crass it sounded, you are drawing a lot of attention to us, Joey." Tea said.

"I can't help that I'm excited." Joey retorted.

The others shook their heads.

"In any case, we have graduation to look forward to." Yugi said.

"And then we can burn the school." Marik said with a smirk.

"Marik!" Malik growled.

Marik turned to his upset Hikari.

"You are **NOT **going to do any such thing." Malik said.

"But-" Marik started.

"You don't have to come back after graduation, so be happy with that." Malik said.

"Fine." Marik muttered.

"You do realize that he and Bakura are going to pull some kind of prank at graduation." Yugi said, looking over at Malik.

Malik sighed. "Unfortunately, I know that." Malik said.

[And I'm sure that Marik and Bakura are going to get it if it's too extreme.] Yami said to Yugi through the link.

{Does that mean that you're not going to help them?} Yugi asked.

[Certainly not! I have no interest in something so childish.] Yami said.

{Any idea what they are up to?} Yugi asked.

[Not a clue.] Yami answered.

Joey was still jumping around in his excitement.

Serenity turned to Seto. "Maybe we should get Joey home before he hurts himself." Serenity said.

"I agree. Let me wrangle him." Seto said before going to try to corral his Hikari.

The others then made their way home.

* * *

~Graduation~

Solomon was waiting downstairs for his grandsons and their boyfriends to come down so that they could go to their graduation ceremony. He glanced down at his watch before sighing impatiently. 'If they don't hurry up, they are going to be late.' Solomon thought.

Another five minutes passed.

"BOYS, COME ON! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR YOUR GRADUATION IF YOU DON'T HURRY UP!" Solomon shouted up the stairs.

A few moments later, Yugi and Yami came down the stairs dressed in black dress pants and white shirts. They were holding their cap and gowns in their hands.

The school had a specific way for the students to dress for graduation, so the four had to follow it or they wouldn't be allowed to graduate.

"Sorry, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"Where are Heba and Atemu?" Solomon asked.

"Right here." Atemu said as he and Heba walked down the stairs.

"Sorry, but I don't want you to be late for your graduation." Solomon said.

"It's okay, Grandpa." Heba said.

"Let's get going." Atemu agreed.

* * *

The graduating class was gathered in different classrooms while they were waiting to be led into the gymnasium for their graduation.

Yugi and Heba were the only ones of their group of friends who were in one of the rooms.

"I can't wait for this to start." Heba said.

"Why? Are you starting to get like Joey?" Yugi asked.

Heba laughed. "No. I'm just getting hot in this getup." Heba answered.

"I know the feeling." Yugi said. He felt the annoyance that Yami felt through the link. "And I don't think that Yami much likes this right now." Yugi said.

[Damn right! I don't like this at all.] Yami said through the link.

{Chill, Yami. It's only going to be for an hour at the most that you won't be able to sit by me.} Yugi said, knowing that that was the problem.

Heba laughed. "Yeah. I doubt that any of the Yamis are happy about the fact that they are separated from their Hikaris at the moment." Heba said.

"Except for Marik. He and Malik will be next to each other." Yugi said.

"I know." Heba said.

[He is really lucky.] Yami said through the link.

Yugi shook his head. 'Yami can be really possessive at times.' Yugi thought, making sure that thought didn't slip through the link since he knew that Yami already knew that.

* * *

It was time for graduation, and all of the students had walked into the gymnasium for the graduation. Once all of the students were in the room, they were all allowed to sit down.

The principal then stood in front of everyone that was gathered there and made several opening remarks.

Soon, it was time for valedictorian to speak.

"We are very pleased to have our valedictorian, Seto Kaiba, to speak with us now." the principal said.

Seto, among the applause, walked up to the podium and made several remarks about how the entire student body and worked hard for this occasion for the past four years and that they would all be looking forward to their futures. In true businesslike fashion, Seto made these remarks very quickly and even managed to make himself seem superior to everyone else.

[That's Seto for you. He has to make everyone look like idiots while he's the best of us all.] Yami said through the link.

Yugi laughed through the link. {Come on, Yami. It wouldn't be Seto if he didn't show that he has a superiority complex.} Yugi replied.

[True.] Yami agreed.

Once all remarks were made, the diplomas were handed out in alphabetical order. That alone took a great deal of time.

As soon as the last person got their diploma and the class was told congratulations, smoke broke out in the room, causing the sprinkler system to go off.

Everyone then tried to get out.

{Bakura and Marik.} Yugi said.

[What else?] Yami asked.

Bakura and Marik were howling with laughter.

"What did I say about burning down the school?" Malik growled at Marik.

"I didn't do any such thing." Marik said.

"I saw the smoke!" Malik growled.

Marik smirked. "It wasn't from a fire." Marik said.

Bakura snickered. "It was a smoke bomb." Bakura said.

Ryou looked over at Malik and said, "At least they waited for this to happen after graduation was over."

"I suppose so." Malik agreed.

Yugi smiled. "Since graduation is over, I think that we should all head out." Yugi said.

"Why?" Tristan asked.

Yugi pointed over to where an ambulance, police, and fire trucks had gathered. "I don't think we want to be here when they start asking questions as to what is wrong." Yugi said.

"Point made." Joey agreed.

The group headed off to find their families.

* * *

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba were in the car with Solomon as they headed home after the graduation prank.

"Can I assume that that was the work of Marik and Bakura?" Solomon asked.

"Yeah. That was their way of saying goodbye to the school since Malik and Ryou virtually forbade them from burning down the school." Yami said.

"Burning down the school?" Solomon repeated.

"That was Marik's original idea, but Malik put a stop to that fast. This was the next step." Yugi said.

"So, what did they really do?" Solomon asked.

"Smoke bombs to make the sprinklers go off." Atemu said.

Solomon shook his head. "I can't believe that they would do something like this." Solomon said.

"I can." Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba all said at the same time.

"I suppose I can see it in those two." Solomon admitted.

The group then arrived back at the house.

"So, are you not doing anything to celebrate graduation?" Solomon asked.

"Not tonight. We all agreed to have a sleepover over at Seto's mansions this Friday night, and we're going to celebrate then." Yami said.

"All right." Solomon said.

The group got out of the car and headed into the house.

Yugi then turned to his grandfather. "By the way, Grandpa, where are we going on vacation?" Yugi asked.

Solomon looked at his grandfather in surprise.

"You said that you would tell us where we're going for our vacation after graduation." Yugi reminded him.

"You don't forget anything." Solomon said.

"Nope." Yugi said.

Solomon smiled. "Well, I suppose that I can tell you now." Solomon said.

All four boys were eager to hear it.

"I thought that we would go to Egypt." Solomon said.

"Egypt?" Heba asked.

"Yes. I know that that's where you and Atemu are planning to go to school, but you won't have time to do anything other than study while you're in college, so I thought that we could go there and so a great deal of sightseeing." Solomon said.

"You know, that's not a bad idea." Yugi agreed.

"I agree." Heba said.

Yami smiled. "It would be nice to see my homeland again." Yami said.

"Well, we leave next Wednesday." Solomon said.

"How long are we staying?" Yugi asked.

"Two weeks." Solomon answered.

"That's sounds like a great vacation." Atemu said.

"I'm glad that you think so." Solomon said.

The four boys now couldn't wait until they were able to go on vacation. They were looking forward to going to Egypt.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The vacation.

R&R.


	40. Vacation

Here's the next chapter.

{blah blah blah}- Yugi to Yami

[blah blah blah]- Yami to Yugi.

Note: There is a seven hour time difference between Japan and Egypt. Japan is ahead of Egypt. I tried to follow that with this chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 40- Vacation

"I can't believe that you're going to Egypt." Joey said.

"What's so unbelievable about that? Grandpa's been there a lot with his archeological digs going on." Yugi said.

"Yeah, but he doesn't usually take you guys with him. I wish that I was going somewhere like that." Tea remarked.

"You're going to America to study, Tea. I think that you're going to have your own adventure." Yami said.

"I know, but I'll be doing a lot of studying there. I won't really have any time to do anything else but that." Tea said.

"I'm sure that you and Tristan are going to be able to find time for fun." Heba said.

"Aren't you two going to Cairo University, though?" Mokuba asked, looking over at Heba and Atemu.

"Yeah, but we're not going to have the chance to do much other than our school work." Atemu answered.

"And you lived there?" Serenity asked, looking at Heba.

"Yeah. I lived there, but I didn't live in Cairo. I lived in a town called Bawiti. It's pretty far off from Cairo. I went to Cairo once when I was ten, but I don't remember much about it." Heba said.

"Sounds like a dream vacation for you guys." Malik said.

"Maybe." Yugi said.

"Well, I'm sure that you'll have fun." Seto said, not bothering to look up from his laptop.

Yami rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I'm sure that you care about whether or not we have any fun on this trip." Yami said.

Seto shrugged.

Joey sighed. "I wish that we were going somewhere like that." Joey said.

Seto rolled his eyes. "Puppy, you know good and well that we are going to Hawaii in July, so cool it. You'll get your fun vacation then." Seto said.

"I know." Joey said with a smile.

The group shook their heads.

"When are you going?" Ryou asked.

"We're leaving next Wednesday." Yugi said.

"You had better pack some cool clothes. It's gets really hot in Egypt." Bakura said.

"Bakura, Yami and I lived in Egypt at the same time you did. We know how the weather is. Plus, the weather in Bawiti isn't much different from the weather in Cairo." Atemu said.

"And I have been in Egypt before. I was there when Yami and I dueled in the Ceremonial Duel." Yugi said.

"He makes a good point." Malik said.

"Just trying to be helpful." Bakura said.

"Which is unusual for you." Marik said.

Bakura glared at him.

"Cool it, you two. There's no need for you to get into a fight." Yugi said.

"In any case, we hope that you guys have a good time." Tea said.

"Thanks, Tea, and I'm sure that we will." Yugi said, smiling.

* * *

"So, do we have everything?" Yugi asked.

"I think so." Yami replied.

It was the Tuesday before they were supposed to go to Egypt, so Yugi and Yami were getting their bags packed.

"I just want to make sure that we have cool clothes. I doubt that Grandpa wants either one of us to have a heat stroke." Yugi said.

"I know, and I can assure that what we're taking won't have us passing out. I lived in Egypt, so I know what will be cool and what won't." Yami said.

Yugi snickered. "And I'm sure that you're going to miss your leather attire for two weeks." Yugi said.

Yami scowled. "That's the only bad thing about leather. It doesn't do well in the heat." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "I think that you'll survive two weeks without it, Yami." Yugi said as he added in a pair of cool pajamas.

"Why are you packing those?" Yami asked.

"Because I would like to have something cool to wear." Yugi answered.

"Why bother? You do know that your pajamas rarely stay on you at night anymore." Yami said.

"Well, I would like to have something to wear for when we're on that three-day period." Yugi said.

"Oh! That's right. That three-day period hits in the middle of the vacation." Yami said.

"Exactly." Yugi said.

"Drat." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "You'll live through it." Yugi said.

"I hope." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "You can be so overdramatic at times." Yugi said.

"I can not." Yami retorted.

"Yes. You can." Yugi replied.

Yami huffed. "You are certainly being mean tonight." Yami said as he sat on the bed.

Yugi climbed on the bed behind Yami and wrapped his arms around Yami. "And you were being rather mean last night." Yugi said.

"That's different." Yami said.

"How?" Yugi asked.

"That's teasing." Yami replied.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Teasing me while I'm beyond sexually frustrated last night was not teasing." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "But it was so much fun to tease you." Yami said.

"Watch it, Yami." Yugi said.

Yami turned to him. "As if you didn't enjoy it." Yami said.

"Okay. So maybe I did, but that doesn't mean that I enjoy the fact that you take so much joy in torturing me like that." Yugi said.

"Okay. I won't tease you as severely anymore." Yami said.

"Right." Yugi said sarcastically.

Yami chuckled. "You know me too well." Yami said.

"Yes. I do." Yugi agreed.

"In any case, I believe that we are completely packed and ready to go in the morning." Yami said.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Yugi said.

Solomon opened the door and peered in. "I wanted to make sure that you were packed for the trip." Solomon said.

"We're ready, Grandpa. We just got finished packing." Yugi said.

"All right. We'll be getting up at five in the morning, so make sure you get a good night's sleep." Solomon said.

"Five?" Yami repeated.

Solomon nodded. "Our plane leaves at eight, and we have to be there two hours early, so we're leaving by five-fifteen so that we can get there in plenty of time." Solomon said.

"That's early." Yami said.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "It's a sixteen hour flight, Yami. We can sleep on the plane." Yugi said.

"Indeed. Just be sure that you get enough sleep." Solomon said before he closed the door.

"Yugi-" Yami started.

"No, Yami. We're not doing anything tonight since we have to get up at five." Yugi said.

"But-" Yami stared.

"Yami, if we do anything, we won't go to bed until two or three in the morning. The answer is no." Yugi said.

"Drat." Yami muttered.

"We have two weeks in Egypt, Yami. You're not going celibate." Yugi said.

"I know, but I do enjoy making love to you." Yami said.

"Trust me, Yami. I know that. It won't kill you to go one night without it." Yugi said.

"Oh, all right. I suppose we could use the sleep." Yami said.

"Good." Yugi said.

'Doesn't mean I can't try.' Yami thought with a devious smirk that Yugi didn't see.

* * *

~Five A.M., Wednesday June 10~

"BOYS! GET OUT OF BED NOW! WE HAVE TO GET TO THE AIRPORT!" Solomon shouted up the stairs.

Yugi groaned. {Not now. It's way too early.} Yugi said through the link.

Yami opened his eyes and glanced at the clock. [It is five, Yugi. You forgot to set the alarm.] Yami said.

Yugi glared at Yami. {And whose fault is that?} Yugi asked.

Yami smiled innocently. [I'm sure that I don't know what you're talking, Aibou.] Yami said as he got out of bed.

{Bullshit! You know damn well what I'm talking about!} Yugi snapped.

[Language, Aibou.] Yami said.

{Cut the crap, Yami. I picked up some of this from you, and don't try to play innocent on _why _I didn't set the alarm.} Yugi retorted as he pulled his clothes on.

[I had nothing to do with that. You're the one who always sets the alarm, not me.] Yami said.

Yugi glared at him. {Yami, I told you that we could not do anything last night because we would only get a few hours of sleep before we had to get up, and what do you do? You jumped me!} Yugi growled.

[I don't remember you complaining, Aibou. In fact, as I recall, you were begging for it.] Yami said, grinning.

{Yami, I swear that one of these days I am going to hurt you for things like that.} Yugi said.

[I'm sure you will, Aibou.] Yami said as he grabbed their bags.

Yugi shook his head. 'Sometimes, I wish that Yami wasn't so attractive to me because it's something that makes it hard for me to resist him, and he uses that to his advantage.' Yugi thought, making sure to hide that particular through from Yami.

The two headed downstairs.

Solomon turned to face them. "I'm glad to see you that you two are up. Are the other two up yet?" Solomon asked.

"They haven't come out of their room yet." Yugi said.

Solomon sighed. "This is one morning that they don't need to sleep in. I worry about how they are going to make it to class on time when they go off to college." Solomon said.

"Oh, that's simple. They're going to take all afternoon classes." Yami said.

"It's the only way they are going to manage it." Solomon agreed.

It wasn't but a few minutes later before Atemu and Heba made it downstairs.

"It's about time. I thought that I was going to have to come upstairs and force you two to get out of bed." Solomon said.

"We're up, Grandpa." Atemu said.

"Well, let's get the suitcases loaded up, and we'll be off." Solomon said.

The five headed outside and got their suitcases loaded into the car before they all got into the car and headed for the airport.

* * *

~Five P.M., Cairo Egypt~

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, Heba, and Solomon all got off of the plane and headed to the baggage claim area to get their bags.

"You know, it would have been faster if we had used our Shadow magic." Atemu said. He rubbed his neck. "I have a crick in my neck." Atemu added.

"Those types of pain are common for airplane rides." Solomon said.

"I know. I just wish that they weren't." Atemu said.

The group soon got their luggage and headed out of the terminal.

"So, should we get two cabs?" Yugi asked.

"No need. I called ahead and a rental car should be here for us. I thought that since we were going to be here for two weeks, we would need a car for us." Solomon said.

"Not a bad idea." Yami agreed.

They out their luggage in the trunk of the car before they got in.

Solomon drove to their hotel.

The name of the hotel that they were staying at was the _Four Seasons Hotel Cairo _at the Nile Plaza.

"Grandpa, you went all out for this trip." Yugi said. He knew that this hotel was a rather expensive one.

Solomon chuckled. "It's not like I couldn't afford it." Solomon said.

"But don't you have to have reservations for months in advance?" Atemu asked.

"Normally, yes, but the hotel manager is a friend of mine, so he easily worked with me on this." Solomon said with a smile.

"That's a good thing." Heba agreed.

The group went in to check in.

"May I help you?" the woman at the desk asked in Egyptian.

Solomon smiled and started speaking in Egyptian. "Yes. We have reservations under the name Mutou." Solomon answered.

The woman checked it. "Yes. Mr. Mutou. Your rooms are ready." the woman said.

[Rooms?] Yami asked.

{Of course. All five of us couldn't stay in one room, and I very much doubt that Grandpa wants to be in the same room as any of us since he knows that we're all sleeping together.} Yugi replied.

[True.] Yami said.

Soon, the woman handed Solomon three keys.

The boys all grabbed the luggage, and they headed for the elevator.

"What rooms?" Yugi asked.

"Atemu and Heba will be in room 708. Yugi and Yami will be in room 710. I'll be in room 705." Solomon answered.

"Okay." the boys said.

Once they were on the floor that their room was on, the boys all headed to their rooms.

* * *

Yugi and Yami walked into their room and were surprised to find that there was a king size bed in the room.

"I wonder why Grandpa did this." Yami said.

"Probably because he knew that it would be a waste to have the two beds since only one would be used." Yugi said.

"Point taken." Yami said.

There was a nightstand on each side of the bed with a lamp on each nightstand. There was a dresser to one side as well as a cabinet that held a TV in it.

"It's a nice room." Yugi said.

"I agree." Yami said.

Yugi put his suitcase on the bed and started to put his things up in the dresser.

Yami did the same.

"I wonder what Grandpa has planned for us this weekend." Yugi said.

Yami looked over at his Hikari. "What do you mean?" Yami asked.

"Well, whenever we go on vacation, Grandpa usually plans for us to go places. I was just wondering what he had in mind." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "I hope that he plans on letting us have some time to just go off and spend time alone." Yami said as he wrapped his arms around Yugi and started to kiss Yugi on the neck.

"Yami, you'll have plenty of time alone with me later. This is a vacation, and I want to see Egypt." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said. He then let go of Yugi.

There was a knock on the door.

Yami opened the door and found that Solomon was on the other side of the door.

"Hey, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"I'm sure that you boys are hungry, so come on. We'll get something to eat." Solomon said.

The left the room after they made sure that they had their room key.

Atemu and Heba were already outside.

"Let's get going." Solomon said.

The group then followed Solomon down the hall to the elevator.

Once at the lobby, the group left the hotel.

"So, where are we going to get something to eat?" Yugi asked.

"Well, I know that there's a café down here, and I thought that we could eat there. You can get a lot of traditional Egyptian meals there." Solomon said.

"Sounds good." Atemu said.

The group headed to the café.

The café was a little busy, but it wasn't crowded.

The five sat down at a table and started to look over the menus that were there.

"Wow. They have international food as well as traditional Egyptian food." Heba said as he scanned the menu.

"This is a popular tourist area, Heba. They have to have food for everyone." Solomon said.

"True." Heba agreed.

A waiter soon came over. "What can I get you to drink?" the waiter asked.

"Tea." Yami said.

"Tea." Atemu said.

"Water." Yugi said.

"Tea." Heba said.

"Coffee." Solomon said.

The waiter went to get their drinks.

When the waiter returned, the group was ready to order.

"I'd like the baked fish." Yugi said.

"I'll have lamb with rice." Yami said.

"I'd like the shrimp." Heba said.

"I would like the Hot and Sour soup." Atemu said.

"I'd like the torly casserole." Solomon said.

The waiter wrote it all down before he walked off.

"Well, I'm glad that you all decided to try something from Egypt." Solomon said.

"It'll be an interesting experience." Yugi said.

The food was soon brought to them, and they all started eating.

* * *

"I am stuffed." Yami said. He was laying on his and Yugi's bed in his room.

"I know, but it was good." Yugi said as he sat down on the bed.

"I agree." Yami said as he wrapped his arms around Yugi and pulled him down beside him.

"I'm glad that Grandpa decided to let us have the night to rest. After that plane ride, I am going to need the night to rest before we do any sightseeing." Yugi said.

"We never did see what he had planned." Yami said.

"We'll find out soon enough." Yugi said.

Yami was stroking Yugi's back lightly. "Is there anything in particular that you would like to do?" Yami asked.

"Yeah, actually. There is. I've always wanted to see the Pyramids at Giza and the Great Sphinx. I didn't have the chance before." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "I saw them five thousand years ago, and they weren't world famous then. Only Egyptians held any reverence for them." Yami said.

"I know, Yami, and I know you've seen them, but I'd like to see them." Yugi said.

"Not a problem. Besides, I'm interested to see them now." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks. I'm sure that we're going to be able to see some other things, too." Yugi said.

"I like the sound of that." Yami said.

"Don't worry about anything. We have two weeks here, and Grandpa will know what sites we would like to see." Yugi said.

"Well, just getting away is good for me." Yami said.

"Same here." Yugi said.

Yami then smirked and flipped them over, surprising Yugi.

"Yami, I thought you were stuffed.' Yugi said.

"I am, but I think that I'm ready for dessert now." Yami said.

"After the plane ride and the dinner, I didn't think that you would have the energy for this tonight." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "I will always have the energy to make love to you, Yugi." Yami said.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me.' Yugi said.

Yami leaned down and kissed Yugi as he placed a silencing spell on the room.

The night was soon lost in passion for the two lovers.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Some sightseeing in Egypt.

R&R.


	41. Seeing Egypt

Here's the next chapter.

{blah blah blah}- Yugi to Yami

[blah blah blah]- Yami to Yugi

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 41- Seeing Egypt

The following morning, the phone in Yugi and Yami's room woke the two boys up.

"What in the hell?" Yami muttered. He glanced at the clock and let out a loud groan. "It's six in the morning!" Yami moaned.

Yugi sighed as he reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello?" Yugi asked.

"_Hello! This your wake up call!_" a cheerful voice said.

'Wake up call?' Yugi asked himself. He then said aloud, "Thank you."

"_You're welcome._" the woman said.

"May I ask who ordered this wake up call?" Yugi asked.

[Wake up call?] Yami growled through the link.

{Yami, shut up!} Yugi retorted.

"_Well, sir, it was Solomon Mutou who ordered the wake up call, and he wants you to meet him in the dining room by six-thirty." _the woman on the phone said.

"Thank you." Yugi said before he hung up the phone.

[Grandpa ordered a wake up call for six in the morning, and we have to be downstairs in half an hour! I can't believe this! I didn't even get up at six when we were in school.] Yami growled.

{Yami, you're just going to have to deal with it. Grandpa wants us to have fun, so get up and let's go.} Yugi said.

[I'd have fun getting some more sleep.] Yami replied.

Yugi tired to sit up, but found himself held down by Yami. {Yami, let me go.} Yugi said.

[No. I'm more than happy to stay here and snuggle up with you.] Yami replied, not loosening his grip in the slightest.

Yugi sighed. {Yami, either you let me go, or you're going celibate for the rest of this trip} Yugi threatened.

Yami let Yugi go in two seconds.

Yugi then got out of bed. {Get up, Yami!} Yugi ordered.

[No.] Yami said stubbornly.

{Yami, Grandpa expects us to be downstairs in twenty-five minutes. We both have to get a shower and get dressed. Now, get up.} Yugi said.

Yami groaned through the link. [Yugi, it's too early for me.] Yami said.

{You'll live, Yami.} Yugi said.

Yami glanced over at Yugi. [Can we at least take a shower together?] Yami asked.

{As long as you promise no funny business, then yes, we can.} Yugi said.

[Okay.] Yami said. He finally got up out of the bed.

The two then headed into the bathroom to get a shower before they got dressed.

[Yugi, why did Grandpa decide to have us get up at six in the morning?] Yami asked.

{I don't have a clue. I suppose that we'll find out soon enough.} Yugi said.

The two then walked out of the room and headed down the hall to elevator, and they ended up meeting Atemu and Heba.

"Can you believe how early Grandpa is making us get up? I don't think that I have ever gotten up this early in the morning." Heba said.

"I know the feeling." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "You two are thinking a lot alike right now." Yugi said as he pressed the down button on the elevator.

When the elevator arrived, the four got onto the elevator, and Atemu pressed the button for the lobby. Once at the lobby, they headed into the dining room.

Solomon looked up and smiled when he saw his four boys in the room. He waved them over.

The four walked over.

"Morning, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"Morning. Breakfast is just a buffet, so get what you like." Solomon said.

The four went and got their plates filled with food before they went to sit down with Solomon.

"I'm surprised that they are serving this early." Heba said. He had noticed there were only two other people in the dining room.

Solomon smiled. "Breakfast starts at six. I thought that we could eat breakfast before we head out for the day." Solomon said.

"Head out where?" Yami asked. He was curious about what it was Solomon wanted them to do now that he was awake.

Solomon smiled. "Well, we are going to head out to Giza today." Solomon said.

"We are?" Atemu asked.

Solomon nodded. "Giza is only thirty minutes from here, so we can get there by seven-thirty, and we'll be able to spend a great deal of time there." Solomon said.

"I wish that we could spend a little more time there." Atemu said.

"We are. We'll spend two days there. We'll stay the night at a small hotel there, so pack a small bag to take with you." Solomon said.

"Are we taking a cab or something?" Yugi asked.

"Certainly not! I rented a jeep for us to take out there." Solomon said.

"Well, that should be interesting." Atemu remarked.

"How far is it to the Pyramids?" Yugi asked.

"We should get there in around thirty minutes." Solomon said.

"Then why stay two days?" Heba asked.

Solomon chuckled. "Because while we are there, we can visit the Great Pyramids as well as the Great Sphinx, not something that can be done in one day. We'll be spending the first day at the pyramids, and we'll spend the second day at the Great Sphinx." Solomon said.

"Sounds good." Yami agreed.

* * *

Yugi and Yami were packing a small bag for them to take on the trip with them.

"I didn't think that we'd be spending two days there." Yugi said.

"I know, but at least you're getting to see them." Yami said.

"I know. I'm looking forward tot his. Grandpa sure thought of everything." Yugi said.

"He did." Yami agreed.

* * *

Yami, Yugi, Atemu, and Heba all headed downstairs to find that Solomon was waiting.

"Come on, boys." Solomon said.

The four boys followed Solomon out of the hotel and to a jeep that was parked outside.

"Hope in." Solomon said.

Yugi climbed into the front with Solomon while Atemu, Heba, and Yami all piled into the back.

Solomon then started the jeep and headed out toward Giza.

"Hey, Grandpa. When was the first time that you went to see the Pyramids?" Heba asked.

"I believe that it was back in 1963. I was actually a student at the University of Cairo. It's the best place to learn archeology and Egyptology, and as you know, I have degrees in both." Solomon said.

"So, you've see them more than once." Yami said.

"Certainly. In fact, I had the opportunity to explore them." Solomon said.

"I thought that people weren't allowed to explore the pyramids." Atemu said. Since he had lived in ancient Egypt, he had done a lot of research on Egypt to know what the present day version of his homeland was like now.

"They're not. I have many friends in high places. In fact, that's how I got permission for me to take all of you on a tour of one of them." Solomon said.

"We are?" all four said.

Solomon nodded.

"Which one?" Yugi asked excitedly.

"The Great Pyramid." Solomon said.

"That'll be great." Yugi said.

"That's the one that's also called the Pyramid of Khufu, right?" Yami asked.

"Certainly is." Solomon said.

Yugi glanced over at him. "You weren't sure of that." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "I am a very old soul, Aibou. Those were built after my time." Yami said.

"Yeah. We were dead roughly a thousand years before they were started." Atemu added.

"Then this will be an interesting experience for both of you." Solomon said.

"Yeah. It will." Atemu agreed.

* * *

Before going to see the Great Pyramids, Solomon took them to the inn that they would be staying at before they headed out.

Once they had their things in the hotel room, Solomon and the boys headed out to the pyramids.

There were a lot of tourists out at the pyramids that day.

"I didn't think that there would be this many people here." Yami commented as they got out.

"Well, the Pyramids of Giza are one of Egypt's most popular tourist spots." Solomon said.

"I can see why." Yugi said as he looked at where the Great Pyramids of Giza.

"They are a magnificent sight." Solomon agreed.

"So, when do we get to explore the pyramid?" Atemu asked.

Solomon chuckled. "Given the time that you two are originally from, I did not think that you would be so interested in seeing them." Solomon said.

"Well, I know that times have changed. Nowadays, most people try to explore the pyramids to learn more about ancient Egyptian culture. It's not the sacrilege that it was back when Yami and I lived." Atemu said.

"Indeed. Unfortunately, many things were lost by robbers who raided tombs in the past." Solomon said.

"I know. It still makes me angry that people decided to rob tombs of the pharaohs so that they could make themselves richer." Yami said angrily.

"Most of those people have already died, Yami." Yugi reminded him.

Heba chuckled. "Unless you count Bakura in that." Heba said.

Yami rolled his eyes. "At least Bakura doesn't do anything like that anymore." Yami said.

"True." Solomon agreed. He looked up and said, "Come on. Let's go to the pyramids."

The group then headed forward to where the pyramids were.

"They are amazing." Heba said.

"They looked even more amazing in person than they do in pictures." Yugi added.

"You should have seen them when they were originally built. It was awesome." Atemu added.

"Yeah. Especially to a couple of kids who were able to see them several times. Even back then, the pyramids were exquisite, although I think that we had more respect for them back in our time." Yami said.

"I know you did. The pharaohs of Egypt were revered as gods, so the people had more respect for the pyramids because it was the final resting place of their kings." Solomon said.

The three got closer to the pyramids and saw them up close.

Yugi looked up at the one they were standing directly in front of. "This is the pyramid of Menkaure, right?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, it his. His is the smallest of the three pyramids of Giza. He was also believed to be much more benevolent than many of his predecessors." Solomon said.

"Of course, there's no real way to know that." Atemu said.

"Of course not. It is unfortunate that the only pharaohs that seem to be remembered are the ones that were either extremely cruel or the ones that did a great thing, such as the building of the Great Sphinx." Solomon said.

"Yeah, and the pharaoh that did one of the greatest things, sealing his soul away in the Millennium Puzzle to save the world, is one of the ones that aren't remembered." Heba said.

Yami rolled his eyes. "Like I care now." Yami said.

"I'm sure you would have five thousand years ago." Heba said.

"Maybe." Yami admitted.

Solomon smiled. "Well, you are remembered. You are merely known as the Nameless Pharaoh." Solomon said.

"It doesn't really bother me." Yami said. He glanced at the pyramids. "I just hope that if archeologists ever find my tomb that it is after I have already died in this life." Yami said.

The other four laughed.

"Do you really want them uncovering your tomb while you're still alive, Atemu?" Yami asked.

Atemu stopped laughing. "I see you point." Atemu agreed.

Yugi smiled. "Well, you never when something like that might happen, Yami." Yugi said.

"I will hope that it won't be for a long time." Yami said.

The group walked the distance to where the second pyramid was.

"The pyramid of Kafhre. The second largest of the three pyramids. Pharaoh Kafhre was entombed in this one." Solomon said.

Atemu growled. "Yeah, and it was also robbed.' Atemu said.

"A sad truth, but many tombs were robbed." Solomon said.

"When was it robbed?" Heba asked.

"There's no way to know for sure, but many think that it was during the First Intermediate Period." Solomon said.

"Something that probably will never be known for sure." Atemu said.

The group continued on.

"And here's the largest of all the pyramids, the Great Pyramid of Khufu." Solomon said.

"It is magnificent." Atemu said.

"Indeed. It was the tallest man-made structure for roughly 3,800 years. It was quite an impressive record. It was also an amazing structure for the time period it was built. No offense, but ancient Egyptians didn't have the technology that we do now, but they still managed to create this magnificent structure." Solomon stated.

"I think we can take that as a compliment." Yami said.

"I'm glad." Solomon said.

"This is the last seven wonders of the ancient world that still stands, isn't it?" Yugi asked.

"Indeed. A marvelous work." Solomon said. He turned to the boys. "So, are you ready to explore the pyramid?" Solomon asked.

"Yes!" all four said.

* * *

Inside the pyramid, Solomon led the boys through the pyramid. All five wore hardhats with lights on them, and they carried flashlights as well.

"There are so many different chambers." Yugi said.

"Indeed. That's why it takes so long to explore the pyramids once you find the entrance to them. There are so many different passageways and chambers in them that it takes quite some time to explore them all." Solomon said.

"Look at this." Atemu said. He shined his light on writing inscribed in the wall.

"It tells the story of Pharaoh Khufu's life." Solomon said.

"Interesting." Atemu said.

Yugi, Yami, and Heba all looked at him.

"What?" Atemu asked.

"How can you find this," Yami motioned to the story, "interesting? This guy was cruel." Yami said.

"I know, but it's interesting to learn firsthand about his life." Atemu said. He looked at it again. "I'm not saying that I would have ruled the way he had, but it's interesting to learn how he lived and ruled." Atemu said.

"That part is true." Solomon agreed.

The group continued to explore the pyramid.

"This chamber held all of the gold and material things that he took with them to the afterlife." Solomon said as they looked around.

"I'm guessing that everything that was in here is in a museum now." Atemu said.

"Of course." Solomon answered as he led them to another chamber. "This was where they found the sarcophagus." Solomon said.

The room was empty now, but it was easy to tell where the sarcophagus had been placed millennia before.

* * *

That night, Yugi and Yami were alone in their small room.

"I can't believe that we were able to explore the pyramid. I never thought I would be able to do something like that." Yugi said excitedly.

Yami chuckled. He loved to see as excited over something as he was now. "I take it that it was something that thrilled you." Yami said.

"Of course! How many kids my age can say that they were able to explore a pyramid?" Yugi asked.

"Not many." Yami agreed.

"I know! It was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Yugi said.

"Well, not necessarily. I mean, Atemu and Heba might get that chance, too." Yami said.

"I know that they're going to be archeologists, but for me, this is the only chance I had to do something like this." Yugi said.

"You could always change your major." Yami suggested.

Yugi shook his head. "It was fun, Yami, but I want to stick with being a doctor." Yugi said.

"Works for me." Yami said as he pulled Yugi down to lay beside him.

"Well, tomorrow we get to visit the Great Sphinx." Yugi said.

"I know. I think that that will be fun." Yami agreed.

"So, was that after your time, too?" Yugi asked.

"Yep." Yami replied.

"Well, I guess this will be an interesting experience for both of us." Yugi said.

"Indeed." Yami said with a smile. He hadn't expected to be able to see some of these things when they came to Egypt, but he was glad that he was going to be able to see them.

* * *

The following day, the group had driven out to the site of the Great Sphinx.

"This is awesome." Heba said.

"Indeed. The Great Sphinx is another one of those monuments that is so admired." Solomon said.

"I don't know as much about the Sphinx." Yami said.

Solomon chuckled. "Well, the Sphinx is known as the oldest monumental statue." Solomon said.

"It's also believed to have been built back in the Old Kingdom under the reign of Pharaoh Khafra." Yugi said.

"Exactly, Yugi. It's very old." Solomon said.

"You can tell that from the fact that it has no nose." Atemu said.

"I know. It's also believed that the beard was added later on. After all, the beard would have been damaged had it been hit when the nose fell." Solomon said.

"From what I've read, it's been known by many names." Atemu said.

"Yes. There is no known name from the Old Kingdom, but Pharaoh Thutmose the IV of the New Kingdom called it Hor-em-akhet." Solomon said.

"Horus of the Horizon." Yami translated.

"Right." Solomon said.

"It's amazing all right." Heba said as they admired it.

Yami shook his head. "It's nice to learn about these things from our time period." Yami said.

"Even though it was actually after our time." Atemu said.

Yami chuckled. "Right." Yami said.

Solomon smiled. "Nothing wrong with learning something new about the place you live." Solomon said.

"No different than us learning about the history of Japan." Heba said.

Yugi laughed. "At least we don't know anyone who lived back in medieval times." Yugi said.

"Agreed." Heba said.

"Hey!" Yami and Atemu exclaimed.

Yugi and Heba just laughed while Solomon smiled.

* * *

That night, Yugi and Yami were back in their room in Cairo after eating dinner with Heba, Atemu, and Solomon.

"Well, that was an excellent two days." Yugi said.

"I know. It's great to learn so much about ancient Egypt from back in the time after I lived." Yami said.

Yugi nodded. "I know the feeling." Yugi said.

"So, are you glad that you were able to see the things that you wanted to see here in Egypt?" Yami asked, wrapping his arms around Yami.

"Yeah. I am. It's great to see things like that." Yugi said.

"And we still have quite some time to do things." Yami said.

"I know, Yami, and I think that we're going to be able to find enough to do." Yugi said.

"Yes. I want to see what bazaars are like now." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Did you see what they were like back in ancient Egypt?" Yugi asked.

"Only when Atemu and I would sneak out of the palace." Yami said.

"You actually did that?" Yugi asked.

"As a kid, yeah. I wanted to see what it was like outside the palace, and Atemu wanted to, as well. Of course, we were both in trouble when we got caught." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Well, at least nothing happened." Yugi said.

"Yeah, but our parents made sure we didn't get out again." Yami said.

It wasn't long before the two headed off to bed.

* * *

Hope you liked it. The information about the pyramids and the Great Sphinx came from the Internet.

Next: More of the trip in Egypt.

R&R.


	42. Tables Turned

Here's the next chapter.

**THERE WILL BE A LEMON IN THIS CHAPTER, SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE LEMONS, SKIP THE WRITING BETWEEN THE BOLD WARNINGS! YOU WERE WARNED!**

{blah blah blah}- Yugi to Yami

[blah blah blah]- Yami to Yugi

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 42- Tables Turned

The family had been in Egypt for a week, and they were all having fun on their trip to Egypt.

They had gone to a beach and had fun for a day at the beach. It was something that they all had enjoyed. They also had gone on a boat trip to see the town by boat, which was fun, too.

All five were glad that they still had the whole week to spend in Cairo.

* * *

Yugi had gotten so used to his grandfather forcing them to get up that he had just gotten up at six in the morning.

Yami was still sound asleep in their bed.

Yugi shook his head. He went ahead and took a shower before he walked back into the room.

It was now six-twenty, but Yami was still asleep.

Yugi walked over and shook Yami. "Yami, wake up." Yugi said softly, shaking Yami gently.

Yami mumbled something incoherent before he turned away from Yugi and settled down.

Yugi shook his head. "I know that Yami likes to sleep, but we're going to do something together today." Yugi said.

The night before, Yugi and Yami had talked about going to the market and doing some shopping together for the day.

Yugi tried shaking Yami awake once again, but it still didn't work.

Yami tugged the sheets and pulled them back over him, settling back down once again.

Yugi sighed. "Well, I know one surefire way of getting Yami out of that bed." Yugi said.

It was the one thing that Yugi had never pulled to try to get Yami to do anything.

"Yami, if you don't get out of bed in the next thirty seconds, I'm not having sex with you for a full week, not including the three-day period that's off limits." Yugi said.

Yami was out of bed and on his feet in a flash. "I'm up! I'm up!" Yami exclaimed, looking horrified.

Yugi was rather shocked that it worked. "Wow. Ryou was right. That does work like a charm." Yugi said.

Yami growled. "Ryou taught you that!" Yami exclaimed.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Just take a shower and get ready." Yugi said.

"Why?" Yami grumbled.

"Because we agreed that we would go out to the markets together, and I want to go early before it gets too hot." Yugi said.

Yami groaned. "Fine." Yami said. He then headed into the shower.

Yugi shook his head. 'Yami hates it because that three-day period started yesterday.' Yugi thought.

There was a knock on the door.

Yugi went and opened the door to find that Solomon was the one at the door. "Morning, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"Good morning. I wasn't sure if you would be up." Solomon said.

"Yeah. I just managed to get Yami out of the bed." Yugi said.

Solomon chuckled. "That boy hates getting up early." Solomon said.

"I know." Yugi said. He then added, "I wouldn't expect to see Atemu and Heba any time soon."

"I know. I wasn't going to disturb those two." Solomon said.

"Was there something you needed?" Yugi asked.

"I was just telling you that I'm meeting up with an old friend, so I'll be gone most of the day." Solomon stated.

"That's okay. Yami and I had talked about spending the day together, just the two of us." Yugi said.

"All right. Just tell your brother." Solomon said.

"I will." Yugi promised.

Solomon walked off, and Yugi shut the door.

Arms then slipped around Yugi's waist.

"Are you awake now?" Yugi asked.

"Yes." Yami said as he pressed his lips to the back of Yugi's neck.

Yugi laughed. "I'm glad. Let's go downstairs and eat breakfast before we head out." Yugi said.

"What about Atemu and Heba? Don't we need to tell them?" Yami asked.

"We can leave a message with the front desk to give to them." Yugi replied.

"Okay." Yami said.

The two made sure that they had their wallets and the key to their room before they left the hotel room.

Yugi and Yami walked into the dining room and headed over to the buffet to get their breakfast.

Both got pancakes. Yugi got sausage and scrambled eggs with his. Yami got bacon and grits with his. Both also had toast and orange juice.

"So, what all do you want to do today?" Yami asked.

"I was hoping to shop around the market place, actually. I haven't had the chance to do that. I would also like to see the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities." Yugi said.

"I think that we can do both of them." Yami agreed.

The two ate their breakfast before they left the hotel.

"The market that is closet to here is the Khan El Khalik." Yami said.

Yugi glanced over at Yami. "How do you know that?" Yugi asked.

Yami smiled. "Simple. I did research on markets close to their hotel before we came to Egypt. I needed to know the places we could go, and I figured that you would like to go to the street markets, so I was prepared." Yami answered.

"Perfect." Yugi said.

The two headed for the market place.

Once there, they found that there were all kinds of street vendors out trying to sell things.

"Wow. There are a lot of vendors here." Yugi said. He hadn't expected to see this many.

Yami chuckled. "Yeah. There's a lot of them." Yami agreed.

The two walked around just to see what they saw.

Yugi then noticed something. "Now I like that." Yugi said, walking over.

Yami had noticed another vender. "Yugi, I'll be over here." Yami said.

Yugi nodded.

Yami walked over to the vendor. He had noticed that it was a vendor that sold jewelry. He started to look over the jewelry.

"Can I help you, sir?" the vendor asked in Egyptian.

"I am just looking for the moment." Yami answered back in Egyptian. He looked over the rings and saw what he had been hoping for.

It was a ring that had the Eye of Horus of in the center with an amethyst stone in the center of it.

Yami then picked up the ring to look at it.

"That's an excellent piece, my boy. Did you know that the royals of ancient Egyptian would give a ring such as that one to someone that they intended to marry?" the vendor asked.

"Actually, I did know that." Yami said. It took him half a second to make a decision. "I'll take this ring." Yami said.

The vendor and Yami started to haggle over the price until they reached a price that they agreed with.

Yami placed the velvet bag with the ring in it into his pocket and walked off. He didn't want Yugi to see it. 'I'll have it for when I do decide to propose.' Yami thought.

Yugi walked over with a bag.

"What did you find?" Yami asked.

"This." Yugi said. He showed Yami a model of an ancient Egyptian palace that he had bought.

Yami was shocked. "That looks exactly like my palace from ancient Egypt." Yami said.

"I know. I saw them when we went into your memories. That's why I wanted to get this." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "You know that you didn't have to get that." Yami said.

"I know, Yami, but I liked this. Besides, it'll look great in our apartment at Harvard." Yugi said.

Yami nodded in agreement.

The two continued to shop around. They ended up buying a few other souvenirs from the market.

"Before we go to the museum, I think that we should go back to the hotel and put these up. We can also eat lunch before we go." Yami said

"Okay. That sounds like a plan." Yugi agreed.

The two then headed back to their hotel.

* * *

After lunch, Yugi and Yami headed for the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities.

At the museum, the two started to look around.

"I don't think that there are any other museums that have as many ancient Egyptian artifacts as this one." Yugi remarked.

"I know." Yami said.

The two started to look over everything.

As they looked, Yugi could feel through the link both sadness and anger coming from Yami.

Yugi turned to him. "Yami, what's wrong?" Yugi asked.

Yami looked over at him. "Sorry. It's just that I feel sad when I think of the pharaohs of the past that are here. It's like their resting places have been disturbed, almost like the tomb robbers of the past." Yami explained.

"Oh. You know that that's not why all of these artifacts are here. Nowadays, people want to learn things about the past from these." Yugi said.

Yami slipped an arm around Yugi's waist. "I know, Yugi. It's just hard at times." Yami said.

The two then came across an exhibit entitled "The Nameless Pharaoh".

"Okay. This is more than a little creepy." Yami said. He saw things that he had had in his past, and he also knew that he was the one that was known as the Nameless Pharaoh.

"Calm down." Yugi said.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Yugi said.

"At least there's no mummy." Yami muttered, glancing around.

Yugi noticed a plaque. "Well, according to this, no mummy was found when the tomb was discovered." Yugi said.

"I am thankful for that." Yami said.

Yugi laughed lightly. "It'll be fine, Yami. I promise." Yugi said.

Yami nodded.

The two left the exhibit quickly.

"Hey. This is the exhibit about King Tut." Yugi said.

"Yeah. The youngest known pharaoh." Yami said.

"Well, he was the youngest pharaoh to be crowned." Yugi said.

"I have to hold the record for the shortest reign." Yami said.

"Not your fault." Yugi reminded him.

"I know." Yami said.

The two looked over the exhibit.

"Murdered by his advisors." Yugi said.

"Well, that was another danger of being pharaoh. You were the target of several assassination attempts. The lust for power is great, so someone who wants to take that from you would be willing to do something like that, and if the people are unhappy with the pharaoh, they will revolt and have him killed." Yami said, reciting something he had been taught as a young boy in ancient Egypt.

"Were there any attempts on you?" Yugi asked.

"As pharaoh, no. I didn't live long enough. There were a few on my father, though. None of them killed him, but it came close." Yami said.

"That has to be scary." Yugi said.

"It was." Yami said.

The two continued to walk around the museum. Yami would explain the things about ancient Egypt that Yugi did not understand.

The two stayed at the museum for a while before they headed back to the hotel.

* * *

Solomon had gotten back in time for him to have dinner with Atemu, Heba, Yami, and Yugi.

"So, what all did you do today?" Solomon asked.

"We went on a tour of Cairo." Heba said.

"It's interesting to see how much it has changed since the last time I was here." Atemu added.

Yugi laughed. "I'm sure that not much is the same as it was five thousand years ago." Yugi stated.

Atemu chuckled. "Nope. The only thing that is the same is the desert and the heat." Atemu said.

"The heat might be worse." Yami added.

"What about you two?" Heba asked.

"We went to the street market this morning, and then we went to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities this afternoon." Yugi said.

"I'm sure that you two found that fun." Solomon said.

"And disturbing." Yami said.

"Why's that?" Heba asked.

"We came across the exhibit on "the Nameless Pharaoh" while we were at the museum today." Yugi answered.

"Better you than me." Atemu said.

"All I'm thankful for is the fact that there was no mummy. That would have been way too much." Yami said.

"I can understand that." Solomon said.

The group then finished dinner.

* * *

~That Night~

**LEMON STARTS HERE!**

Yugi was in the bathroom getting ready for the night. He had plans for Yami that night, and he was about to put them into action.

Yugi had been considering it for a long time, and he finally decided that he would show Yami what it was like to be on the bottom when it came to making love. After all, Yami hadn't had that experience yet, and Yugi was going to make sure that he had that experience.

Yugi smiled to himself. 'Yami doesn't seem to realize that we can make love even if we're on that three-day period. He just has to be the one that is on the bottom.' Yugi thought.

Yugi could sense through the link that Yami was getting rather irritated at the fact that he was taking so long in the bathroom, and Yugi loved it.

Yugi decided to step on out and get the night started. He opened the door to the bathroom and walked out of the room.

Yami sighed in relief. 'Finally.' Yami thought. He turned to look at Yugi and froze.

Yugi smiled. "Something on your mind, Yami?" Yugi asked as he walked over.

"Well, I-um-" Yami trailed off, unable to form a complete sentence as he stared at his lover. He had good reason for being unable to think straight.

A naked Yugi stood in front of him, and that always left Yami without the ability to form words. It just led to a reaction from another part of his body.

"Everything okay, Yami?" Yugi asked teasingly as he walked over to Yami.

Yami opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

"Nothing to say?" Yugi asked. He reached Yami and stood in front of him. "Well, you don't have anything to say vocally, but I think that this speaks clearly." Yugi said as he reached down to press his hand against the bulge in Yami's boxers.

A light whimper escaped from Yami as the pressure was applied.

"Maybe I can help." Yugi said. He then leaned down and kissed Yami rather roughly.

Yami was taken off guard by this and gasped in shock.

Yugi used the chance to force his tongue inside of Yami's mouth and started to roam around rather roughly.

Yami let out a loud moan at this.

Yugi made sure to stroke every inch of Yami's mouth. As he did so, he let his hands trail down Yami's chest to the hem of his shirt. Yugi then pulled the shirt up and broke the kiss so that he could pull the shirt over Yami's head.

"Yugi, this isn't-" Yami started.

Yugi didn't give Yami the chance to finish that sentence as he kissed Yami once again forcefully.

Yami wasn't used to Yugi being so forceful in any way, so this had taken Yami by surprise.

Yugi then pushed Yami backwards so that he was flat on his back on the bed with Yugi straddling him at the waist. Yugi continued with the rough kiss.

Yami let out another moan as he fell into the kiss.

Yugi then slid his hands under the pillow to grab what he had hidden there earlier in the day for just this moment. He pulled out the two sets of handcuffs. He then carefully put the cuff around one of Yami's wrists before he cuffed Yami's wrist to the bedpost. He then did the same with the other one.

Yami was trapped.

Yugi the broke the kiss.

Yami panted as he tried to catch his breath. He was used to these types of kisses, but he was normally the one who initiated them, and he was usually on the giving end of such kisses, not the receiving end.

"Hmm. I always wondered what it looked like after being on the receiving end of a kiss like that." Yugi said curiously.

Yami looked up at his Hikari. "Yugi, this-" Yami started as he tried to sit up only to find that he was being held down. He then glanced up and noticed that he was handcuffed to the bed.

Yugi covered Yami's mouth before he could shout. "Chill, Yami. You know that it's me." Yugi said. He then uncovered Yami's mouth

"How-when-where?" Yami wasn't able to figure out which question to ask.

"Well, Heba was kind enough to let me borrow these things. You'd be surprised at what kinds of things we Hikaris talk about." Yugi said.

Yami's eyes widened at that.

"As far as when and how I got you into these things, well, let's just say that you were rather distracted a few moments ago." Yugi said, smirking.

"Yugi, we can't do this." Yami said.

"Why not?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, this is that three-day-" Yami started.

"Yami, let me clarify one thing. Only _Hikaris _can get pregnant. If we were to make love with you on the bottom, then we wouldn't have anything to worry about." Yugi said.

Yami then caught on to what Yugi was thinking, and his eyes widened in shock.

"Why do you think that Atemu, Seto, Bakura, and Marik can still act so happy while on this period? They are still getting some. The roles are just reversed." Yugi said.

Yami was shocked at that. He hadn't even considered something like that.

"So, I figured that we could give this a try." Yugi said.

"Then why didn't you ask?" Yami asked.

"Because this was a lot more fun." Yugi said,.

Before Yami could ask any other questions, Yugi had leaned down and kissed Yami once again. He then started to kiss down Yami's neck to his collarbone, where he bit down lightly.

Yami yelped, jumping slightly.

Yugi pulled back and said, "You might want to put up a silencing spell."

Yami knew that Yugi was right and did that.

Yugi then continued with what he was doing. He kissed down Yami's chest to his nipples. He took one of the nipples into his mouth and started to suck on it.

Yami let out a moan at this as he tugged at his restraints.

Yugi sucked on the nipple until it was hard before he turned his attention the other one. He gave that nipple the same treatment. He then kissed on down Yami's abdomen to his navel. He dipped his tongue into Yami's navel several times before pulling back.

Yami panted lightly.

Yugi reached down and pulled Yami' s boxers off before he threw them into the floor with his shirt.

Yami's member was already erect from the fact that he had been turned on by everything else.

Yugi placed his hands on Yami's hips before he leaned down and licked at the tip of Yami's member, tasting the pre-cum that had leaked out.

"AH!" Yami exclaimed, jumping at the sudden action.

Yugi smirked before he took the tip of Yami's member into his mouth and started to suck on it gently.

Yami gasped and moaned as he pulled at his restraints. He always enjoyed it when Yugi gave him blowjobs.

Yugi slowly took the rest of Yami's member into his mouth and sucked on it lazily.

Yami attempted to buck his hips up, but Yugi's hold on his hips prevented him from doing this.

Yugi slowly started to suck harder on Yami's member.

"Ah! Yugi!" Yugi moaned.

Yugi smirked as he continued to suck on Yami's member.

Yami pulled harder at the restraints as he felt himself slowly start to reach his end. "Y-Yugi, I-I can't take-take much more." Yami gasped.

Yugi smirked. {I know. Come for me, Yami.} Yugi said seductively.

Hearing that in his head was all it took for Yami to reach his end. "YUGI!" Yami cried as he released into Yugi's mouth.

Yugi swallowed every drop that Yami released before he let go of Yami's member.

Yami was panting and sweating as he recovered from Yugi's actions.

Yugi sat up and reached over to the table to get the bottle of lube out of the nightstand. He opened the tube and coated three fingers in the substance.

Yami had finally recovered from the actions and noticed what Yugi had done. He willingly spread his legs for Yugi.

Yugi moved in-between Yami's legs and ran one finger over Yami's entrance to loosen his muscles before he slipped his finger inside of Yami.

Yami gasped slightly at the slight pain he felt from the finger. It was a weird feeling for him since he had never gone through this.

"Relax, Yami. That makes it easier." Yugi said.

Yami had to force his body to relax, and he noticed that the pain lessened slightly.

Yugi started to gently pump the finger in and out of Yami's body at a slow pace.

Yami slowly got used to the finger and started to move back against the finger.

Yugi then added in the second finger.

Yami's body tensed once more as the second finger entered him. The pain was slightly worse than it had been with the one finger.

"Yami, relax. It's what you told me, remember?" Yugi said.

Yami knew that Yugi was right, so he forced himself to relax.

Yugi slowly started to pump the fingers in and out of Yami as he started to move them in a scissor-like motion to stretch Yami.

Yami winced at this. "How do you stand this constantly?" Yami asked.

"Because I'm used to it. We make love almost every day now, except for those days that I can get pregnant. It doesn't faze me now." Yugi said.

Yami didn't see how that was possible. He also couldn't believe how Yugi stood this.

Yugi added in the third finger, striking Yami's prostate that time."AH! YUGI!" Yami exclaimed, shocked at the shock of pleasure that went right through his spine.

Yugi smiled. "And that's what makes it worth it. Now you know how I feel." Yugi said. He continued to stretch Yami for what was to come.

Yami was now pulling at his restraints again, wishing more than anything to hold on to Yugi.

Once Yugi was certain that Yami was prepared, he removed his fingers from Yami.

Yami let out a groan at the loss of the fingers.

Yugi chuckled. "Now you know how I feel in that way, too." Yugi said. He picked up the lube again and poured some into his hand before he applied it to his member. He then moved himself so that he was positioned at Yami's entrance.

Yami had finally gotten irritated of Yugi not moving, so he said, "Yugi, please hurry up!" He wanted Yugi already!

"All right." Yugi said. He then thrust into Yami to the hilt.

Yami cried out at the further stretching of his passage. He had also arched up, causing Yugi to slip deeper inside of Yami.

Yugi held still to allow Yami time to adjust to the new feeling.

Yami, however, wasn't having that. "Yugi, move!" Yami said.

Yugi did what Yami asked. He pulled out until only the tip of his member was left inside of Yami before he thrust back in.

Yami raised his legs and wrapped them around Yugi's waist, letting Yugi thrust into him even deeper.

Yugi continued to thrust in and out of Yami at a slow pace, wanting to enjoy this.

Yami gasped and moaned with each thrust, but he soon found himself unsatisfied with this slow pace. "Yugi, please! Faster! Harder!" Yami begged.

Yugi was slightly amused because he never thought that he would see the day that Yami would beg, but he was happy to oblige. "As you wish." Yugi said. He pulled out and thrust back in fast and hard.

"AH!" Yami cried.

Yugi continued with the fast, hard pace.

Yami was crying, screaming, and moaning with each thrust.

Yugi gripped Yami's hips tightly in his hands and pulled Yami's hips forward at the same time he slammed into Yami, making the thrust even harder.

"YUGI!" Yami screamed loudly.

Yugi had hit Yami's prostate with that powerful thrust, and it had sent a mixture of pain and pleasure through Yami. Yami wasn't sure which was stronger, the pain or the pleasure, but what he did know was that he loved it.

{I thought that you would want this rough.} Yugi said through the link.

[Of course I do. Don't you ever be gentle with me.] Yami growled.

Yugi continued with the rough pace, knowing that Yami wanted it rough.

The two continued with their pace, both enjoying the reversal of roles.

Yugi could feel himself getting close to his end, so he reached between their sweaty bodies and grasped Yami's member, starting to stroke Yami in time with his thrusts.

Yami cried out at the hand on his member, and it didn't take much to force him to release. "YUGI!" Yami screamed as he released all over their chests and stomachs.

Yugi felt Yami's walls tighten around his member, and he was thrown over the edge as well. "YAMI!" Yugi moaned as he released inside of Yami.

Yugi then collapsed on top of Yami as both panted and gasped for breath.

Once he covered, Yugi rose up and pulled gently out of Yami.

**LEMON ENDS HERE!**

Yami moaned slightly as Yugi slipped out of him.

"So, how did you enjoy being on bottom?" Yugi asked.

"It was actually fun." Yami said. He then glanced up. "Could you let me go, please?" Yami asked.

"Sure." Yugi said. He pulled the key out from under the pillow and unlocked the cuffs from Yami's wrists and the bed.

Yami then pulled Yugi into a kiss. "I have to say, we're going to borrow those handcuffs from Atemu and Heba again." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "We might as well buy a set of our own." Yugi said.

"Probably." Yami said. He kissed Yugi again. "At least this does mean that we won't have to go celibate from now on." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said.

"Now, I think that we need to get some sleep." Yami said.

Yugi yawed. "I agree. Good night.' Yugi said.

"Good night.' Yami said.

The two settled down, and Yugi soon fell asleep.

Yami smiled down at Yugi before he rubbed his lower back. 'I am going to be sore tomorrow, but it was worth it.' Yami thought. He also feel asleep after removing the silencing spell.

* * *

~One Week Later~

Yugi and Yami walked into their bedroom at the Game Shop after getting back from their vacation.

"I am glad to be home." Yami said as he collapsed on top of the bed.

Yugi smiled. "I am, too." Yugi said as he walked over to sit on the bed with Yami.

Yami pulled Yugi down to lay beside him. "I can't believe that it's already ten at night here." Yami said.

"I know, Yami. It doesn't seem like it should be, but it is." Yugi said.

"I noticed." Yami said with a frown.

Yugi laughed. "Don't worry, Yami. Once we get readjusted to the time zone we are in, we'll be fine." Yugi said.

"The only problem is that we're going to be thrown off again by the time difference in America when we start school there." Yami said.

"I know, Yami. We have a little while before we actually have to worry about that." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami said. He glanced down at Yugi and smirked. He used his Shadow magic to close the door and put up a silencing spell. He then pounced on top of Yugi.

"Yami!" Yugi exclaimed.

Yami smirked. "Well, as I said, it is ten at night. Grandpa has already gone to bed, and I have no doubt that Atemu is up to what I am up to right now." Yami said.

"That's not a thought I would like to have." Yugi said.

Yami smirked. "Well, I believe that I can help you stop thinking about that." Yami said.

"I have no doubt that you can, Yami." Yugi said, knowing how easy it was for Yami to get his mind focused on other things.

Yami smirked. "I'm glad to know that I am so talented that I can get you focused on so fast." Yami said.

Yugi didn't have the chance to react before he was being kissed roughly by Yami.

The night was soon lost in passion for the two lovers.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yugi and Yami visit Harvard.

The poll is still up, so vote if you haven't! I'll close it when I post the next chapter of Starting Over!

R&R.


	43. Harvard University

Here's the next chapter.

[blah blah blah]- Yami to Yugi

{blah blah blah}- Yugi to Yami

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 43- Harvard University

~July~

Yugi and Yami were in their room packing a few things into a bag.

The two were going to be heading off to Harvard for a few days so that they could get their classes set up, go through orientation, and explore the campus.

"I'm excited to see what the campus is like." Yugi said.

"Same here. It'll be nice to see where everything is before we have to start." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "And I'm sure that you're going to want to make sure that we get the same classes." Yugi said.

Yami smirked. "You know me too well." Yami said.

"Tell me something that I don't know." Yugi said.

Yami leaned over and kissed Yugi. "There's not much that I can tell you that you don't know." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I figured as much." Yugi said.

The two finished their packing.

"We do have the airline tickets, right?" Yami asked.

Yugi picked them up off the desk. "Right here." Yugi said.

"Good." Yami said.

"Our flight leaves at nine in the morning our time, which means that we'll arrive in Cambridge, Massachusetts at eight in the morning." Yugi said.

Yami shook his head. "The time difference is just as bad as with Cairo." Yami said.

Yugi smiled at his boyfriend. "Yami, don't worry about it. Once we're staying there most of the time for school, we'll get used to it." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami agreed. He chuckled. "We may want to get to the school a week before we start classes so that we can get used to the change in time. I really don't want to be sleeping in class." Yami stated.

Yugi smiled. "I understand, and we can do that." Yugi agreed.

"Good." Yami said, relieved.

* * *

That night, Solomon was sitting at the dinner table with his two grandsons and their boyfriends for the last time for about a week.

"So, are you four all packed and ready to go?" Solomon asked.

"Sure are, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"Same here." Heba added.

Heba and Atemu were going to Egypt to Cairo University for a week so that they could do the same thing that Yugi and Yami were going to do.

"All I ask is that you be careful." Solomon said.

"We will, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"Yeah. You know that nothing is going to happen to me and Yugi since Atemu and Yami aren't going to let us out of their sights." Heba said.

"I was talking to those two." Solomon said.

"Why us?" Atemu asked.

"Simple. I know your tempers, and I know how you react when you think someone is hitting on them or might hurt them. I just don't want you to overreact." Solomon said.

"When have we overreacted?" Yami asked.

"I seem to remember Tea and Serenity talking about the fact that you nearly attacked a boy at school simply because he asked Yugi out before he knew that you and Yugi were a couple." Solomon said.

Yami had the decency to blush. "Oh. That." Yami said.

"Yes, that." Solomon said. He then looked over at Atemu. "And I remember quite vividly how you reacted when anyone would come onto Heba back in ancient Egypt, and I am certain that that has not changed." Solomon said.

Atemu also blushed, although his was less noticeable than Yami's with his tanned skin.

"We'll keep them in line." Yugi said.

"That's all I ask." Solomon said.

* * *

Yami was lying on their bed while Yugi was setting the alarm clock for six in the morning. "Why six?" Yami asked.

"Because we need to make sure that we get up early enough to get to the airport. I don't want to miss our flight." Yugi said.

"Oh." Yami said.

Yugi sat down on the bed.

"I can't believe that Grandpa thinks that Atemu and I would overreact while we were gone." Yami said, looking up at the ceiling.

"Yami." Yugi said.

Yami looked over at him.

"If anyone dared to even flirt with me, you would grab them by the throat and possibly killed them for it. You are a very jealous man." Yugi said. He laughed. "Some would probably call you crazy." Yugi said.

Yami pouted. "I can't help it that I don't like the idea of someone kitting on you." Yami said.

"Yami, you put Bakura to shame in your reactions to that." Yugi said.

"Bakura has done worse than me." Yami said.

"Yes, and you know what Ryou did to him, too." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "Okay. Okay. I get the point." Yami said.

"Good. Now you know why Grandpa said that." Yugi said as he lay down by Yami.

"I suppose so. I just can't help it." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "You are crazy jealous and overprotective, and I love you for it." Yugi said before he leaned down to kiss Yami.

"And I'm glad of that." Yami said, wrapping his arms around Yugi and kissing him deeply.

"Yami." Yugi said when the kiss ended.

"Yes, Aibou." Yami replied.

"You're going to be going without sex for a month if you try it." Yugi said.

"But-" Yami started.

"No! We are not going to be late for the plane, Yami! You will just have to learn how to control your urges! After all, we can't make love every night when we're in college." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "Fine." Yami agreed.

"Good." Yugi said with a smile.

"Well, if we can't make love tonight, then we might as well go to bed." Yami said.

"We really should. After all, we do have to get up early." Yugi said.

The two then settled down to go to sleep, Yami's arms wrapped around Yugi.

* * *

~Next Morning, 6 AM~

Yugi woke up when the alarm went off, and he reached over to turn the alarm off. He laid there for a moment before he sat up to stop himself from falling asleep. He looked over at Yami, who was still sound asleep. He started to shake Yami and said, "Yami, wake up. We have to get ready to go."

Yami didn't budge.

"Come on, Yami. We have to get to the airport so that we don't miss our flight." Yugi said, shaking Yami harder.

Yami, still half-asleep, shook Yugi off before he settled down to go back to sleep.

Yugi sighed in annoyance. {YAMI, GET OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW!} Yugi shouted through the mind link.

Yami jumped up and tumbled out of the bed, landing with a loud crash. He then cursed in ancient Egypt.

Yugi sighed. "You were the one that didn't want to get up. Come on. We have to get showered and dressed." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "And I was having a really good dream, too." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I know." Yugi said.

Yami glared at him. "Then why did you wake me up?" Yami asked.

"We have a plane to catch. Come on." Yugi ordered.

The two then went to take a shower before they got dressed.

Solomon look surprised when the two came downstairs. "And here I thought that I would end up having to drag you two out of bed." Solomon said.

"You almost did him." Yugi said, motioning to Yami.

Yami scowled.

"You were hard to get up." Yugi said.

"Well, you don't have that much time to stand around here. Get going!" Solomon ordered, pointing to the door.

Yugi and Yami headed out the door, grabbing the keys for the car in the process.

Once their luggage was in the car, Yami got into the driver's seat, and Yugi got into the passenger's seat. Yami then started the car, pulled out of the driveway, and headed for the airport.

* * *

~Domino Airport, 8:15 AM~

Yugi and Yami had gotten to the airport and did all of their processing before they headed to the waiting area for their plane.

Yami glanced at his watch. "And we have forty-five minutes before we can leave." Yami said with a sigh.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "We had to get here to early to make sure that we would make our flight." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said. He noticed that there was a café off to the right. "Come on, Yugi. We can grab something to eat before we get on the plane." Yami said.

The two then headed to the café.

"Can I help you?" the girl at the counter asked.

"I'd like a black coffee and a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit." Yami said.

"I'll have a coffee with cream and sugar and a sausage biscuit." Yugi said.

The girl rung it up and said, "That'll be ten ninety-five."

Yami paid her, and it wasn't long before they had their food.

The two then sat down to eat.

"The waiting is the worst part." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi agreed.

"In any case, I can't wait to see the campus at Harvard." Yami said, smiling.

"Same here." Yugi agreed.

Once the two were done eating and drinking their coffee, they headed back out.

Yami checked his watch again. "Well, that killed another twenty-five minutes." Yami said.

"Another twenty minutes won't kill you, either." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "I suppose not." Yami agreed.

~Twenty Minutes Later~

"_Flight 803 to Cambridge, Massachusetts is boarding at gate number 6 now. Please proceed in an orderly fashion._" the woman at the desk said.

Yugi and Yami gathered their things before they headed off.

The two were soon sitting next to each other on the plane.

"I hope we take off on time." Yami muttered.

"Cool it, Yami. You can take this time to go back to sleep." Yugi said.

Yami glanced over at Yugi as Yugi pulled a book out of his carry-on bag. "How long is this flight?" Yami asked.

"Roughly fourteen and a half hours." Yugi said.

Yami's jaw dropped.

"Go to sleep." Yugi said.

"I think I will." Yami agreed.

Yugi started to read, and Yami settled back to sleep.

* * *

~8 AM, Cambridge International Airport~

Yugi and Yami got off their plane after it had arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Yami rubbed his neck. "I hate long flights like this." Yami muttered.

"Well, we're going to be making this trip several times in the next few years, so you might as well get used to it, Yami." Yugi said.

Yami sighed.

The two went and got their luggage before leaving.

Yugi hailed a cab, and the two got in. Yugi then told the cab driver where to go.

Once at the hotel, Yugi paid the driver and then the two headed into the hotel. They were soon in their hotel room.

The room had one King-sized bed in the middle of the room. There was a nightstand with a lamp on each side of the bed. There was a TV sitting on top of the dresser with a remote control lying beside the TV. The curtains to the room were open at the moment, letting the early morning sunlight in. There was also a door that led into the bathroom, which only had a shower, sink, and toilet.

"Not a bad room for a few days." Yami remarked.

"Well, we don't have to stay here for too long, Yami. We didn't need anything fancy." Yugi said.

The two set their luggage down, and Yami collapsed on the bed.

"Yami, are you planning on going to sleep?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, I feel like I have been up for a day straight. When we left Japan, it was nine in the morning, and now, it's eight in the morning here. I can't take this." Yami said.

Yugi yawned himself. "I suppose a nap does sound good. Our orientation at the school isn't for another two days, so spending today relaxing won't be a bad idea." Yugi said.

"Good." Yami muttered.

Yugi lay down beside Yami, and Yami pulled Yugi closer to him. Both were soon asleep.

* * *

~Harvard University Orientation~

Yugi and Yami had gone to the Harvard Orientation on that Friday. They were among the many students there.

[I didn't expect there to be this many people here.] Yami remarked.

{Well, Harvard is a very prestigious school, Yami. There's going to be a lot of people here.} Yugi replied.

Yami scanned the crowd. [And unfortunately for us, it looks like there are a lot of snooty rich people here.] Yami said.

{Yami!} Yugi scolded.

[It's true. I know that Seto can be arrogant and a jerk, but at least he is a little down-to-earth. No one here looks like they fit that profile.] Yami said.

{Looks can be deceiving.} Yugi reminded him.

[I know. This is just a first observation.] Yami replied.

Yugi shook his head as the two took the packets that were handed out and sat down.

The two looked through the packets full of stuff that they had been given while they were waiting for the orientation to start.

Soon, a man with gray hair and wire-rimmed glasses in a suit stepped up to the podium. "Welcome, future freshmen. My name is William Harrington. I am the chancellor at Harvard University. I would like to welcome you all to this prestigious university, and I would also like to congratulate all of you on being accepted into Harvard." the man said. He continued to speak for several moments about Harvard's prestigious reputation before allowing other people to talk.

Several other people spoke and talked about different aspects of the school such as the on-campus apartments, the facilities for students such as the dining hall and study areas, and the different organizations with Harvard like the fraternities, sororities, and society organizations.

Yugi listened to everything while Yami was just wishing that it would be over. He wanted to be here and learn to be a doctor, but most of this was just praising the school itself, which Yami wasn't interested in.

After roughly an hour, Yugi and Yami walked out with a large group that was going into the medical field as well.

[That was boring.] Yami remarked.

{Come on, Yami. You know that they have to do this.} Yugi said.

[I know, but everything they said is in the information they gave us. We could have easily read about it.] Yami replied.

{Well, some people won't read it all like you and I will.} Yugi said.

[I suppose so.] Yami agreed.

In a large classroom, a few teachers were in there to tell the students about what they would be doing in their classes.

Yami was thankful when that ended, and they were able to start to register for their classes.

Each new student was able to sit at a computer to register for classes.

[So, what classes are we signing up for?] Yami asked.

{You do realize that we don't have to take the same classes.} Yugi told him as he looked through the list of classes available.

[I know, but I want us to take the same classes.] Yami said.

{You mean you want to be with me so that there's no chance that another person, male or female, will hit on me.} Yugi said.

[Exactly.] Yami said.

{Well, I was thinking of taking English I, College Algebra, Intro to Sociology, Intro to Psychology, and French I.} Yugi answered.

[Why French?] Yami asked.

{Because we have to take a foreign language, and German, French, and Spanish are the only ones offered, and I would prefer French.} Yugi said.

[Because we took it in high school and passed with flying colors?] Yami asked.

{Exactly.} Yami replied.

Yugi shook his head as he registered for the classes.

Yami registered for the exact same classes.

Once done with that, they had to take the slips that they had written them down on to the faculty member in the room.

"Thank you. You can go and pick up your schedule now so that you can find the buildings you will be in now." the woman said.

"Thank you." Yami said.

The two then went to pick up their schedules.

"Well, we don't have it too bad as far as time is concerned." Yami said.

"Of course not. We have Psychology, Algebra, and English on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Psychology is from eight to eight-fifty. English is from nine to nine-fifty, and Algebra is from ten to ten-fifty, and we are done for the day. Then we have Sociology from eight to nine-fifteen, and French from nine-thirty to ten-forty-five on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "Which means that we have the afternoons to ourselves." Yami said, smiling at Yugi.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "It means that we have the afternoons to do our studying." Yugi said.

Yami pouted. "That is not fair, Yugi." Yami said.

"Stop pouting. You're not good at it. IF we study in the afternoons, then the evenings can be for alone time." Yugi said.

Yami smiled brightly. "Perfect!" Yami said.

Yugi grabbed Yami by the hand. "Come on. We have to go to housing to check on the apartment that we put in for." Yugi said.

The two headed to the housing department.

A young man looked up when the two came in. "May I help you?" he asked politely.

"Yes. We are new students, and we put in to rent one of the apartments on campus." Yugi said.

"What are your names?" the man asked.

"Yami Sennen and Yugi Mutou." Yami answered.

The man looked it up on the computer. "I have it here." the man said. He handed a printout of it to them along with two other sheets. "I need each of you to sign these." the man said.

Yugi and Yami signed them.

"Here is your copy along with directions to the building. There are two keys for you as well." the man said.

"Thank you." Yugi said.

The two then left the housing department.

"Now what?" Yami asked.

"We can either find the buildings our classes are in first and then go check out the apartment, or vice versa." Yugi said.

"Let's find the buildings we have our classes in first. We can look at the apartment last." Yami stated.

Yugi nodded.

The two went and started to search for the different buildings that their classes were in.

It took about an hour and a half to do it, but once they had, Yugi and Yami headed to their apartment building. They took the elevator up to their floor, which was on the fourth floor and found their apartment, 418.

Inside, the apartment already had a couch, a small kitchen with a table for two to sit at. There was a refrigerator, a stove, and a microwave. The living room had a couch and a chair along with a TV stand, but no TV.

"I guess we'll have to get ourselves a TV if we want one." Yami remarked.

"I guess so." Yugi said.

Down a small hall were three other rooms. One was a bathroom that had a shower, a tub, and a toilet seat along with a sink. The other two were bedrooms with a full bed in each room along with a dresser. One room was a little bigger than the other and had a desk in the room.

"I guess we'll use the bigger room." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Well, most students who share an apartment on campus aren't couples, Yami." Yugi said.

"I know. I'm just glad that we're used to sharing a full-sized bed." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Yeah. We are." Yugi said.

"It's not a bad little apartment." Yami said.

"I noticed. It'll work for us." Yugi said.

"So, we've seen the apartment, but since we have a kitchen, where are we supposed to get food and stuff?" Yami asked.

"Well, we can take a look around town since we're going to be here another few days. We might be able to find a place to get groceries that isn't too far off." Yugi said.

"You're right. Come on. We should head out to get dinner." Yami said. He checked his watch. "It's already five in the afternoon." Yami said.

"Okay. Let's go." Yugi said.

The two then left the campus apartment and headed back to their hotel.

* * *

~Four Days Later~

Solomon was sitting at the kitchen table with his two grandsons and their boyfriends.

All four were rather jet-lagged as well as wore out from the time difference.

"So, were the campuses to your liking?" Solomon asked.

Heba smiled. "It was great. I think that Atemu and I are going to love going there." Heba said.

"We will. The area isn't bad, so I'm sure that we'll enjoy it while we're there." Atemu said.

"That's good." Solomon said. He glanced over at Atemu and said, "Are you looking forward to living in Egypt again?"

Atemu smiled. "It'll be nice living in Egypt again since it is my homeland, but I've gotten used to the weather here over the last few years, so it'll probably take me a little bit to get used to being in Egypt again." Atemu admitted.

"Well, Yugi and I are looking at something completely different." Yami remarked.

"What was it like?" Heba asked.

"The campus is pretty big. You get exercise just walking from one class to another. I think that it'll be a great experience, though." Yugi said.

"There's also several stores that are close by that we can go to if we ever need anything. That's a major plus." Yami said.

"Well, I think it's great that you're going to college. I know that it'll be a new experience for you since you're going to be away from home." Solomon said.

"More like going back." Atemu muttered.

Solomon smiled. "It'll be new for Yugi and Heba, anyway." Solomon said.

"True. We've never actually been away from home before." Yugi agreed.

"It should be fun, though. It'll give us a taste of what being out on our own is going to be like." Heba said.

"Indeed." Solomon said.

Atemu sighed. "I think I'm going to bed. I hate the time differences that we have to go through." Atemu said.

"Same here." Yami said.

Yugi and Heba decided to join them, so the four headed upstairs.

Solomon smiled. 'They are taking an important step ion their lives now. They'll find out that being on their own isn't as easy as they think it will be, but I'm certain that they are going to be just fine.' Solomon thought. He took a sip of his drink. 'I believe I might be the one that has to get used to being alone again. I haven't been alone since I got custody of Yugi when he was eight. It will be odd not to have them here.' Solomon thought. He then chuckled to himself. 'Although Joey will be barging in here all the time, so it won't be as bad as I think.' Solomon thought.

It would be new and different for them all, but it would be a good change.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I go to a smaller college, so I'm not sure how a university like Harvard does their orentation, so I did the best I could with it.

Next: THe gang enjoys their last days of summer.

R&R.


	44. Last Days of Summer

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 44- Last Days of Summer

It was getting late in the summer, and it was getting close to the time that everyone would head their separate ways to the different colleges around the world.

The group was over at the Kaiba mansion, sitting around.

"It's hard to believe that most of you are going to be gone before long. It doesn't seem like you should be leaving." Serenity said.

Yugi smiled. "It's not like we're going away forever, Serenity. We'll be back. Plus, there's no way that Grandpa is going to let us get away with not coming home for the holidays. You'll still be able to see us." Yugi said.

"Yeah, but not as often." Serenity said.

"Come on, Serenity. You'll still have me around." Joey said, slipping an arm around his sister's shoulders.

"No offense, Joey, but I don't think that I can have girl talk with you." Serenity said.

Joey grimaced. "Yeah. Not something that I want to do." Joey said.

"I wouldn't worry, Serenity. You'll find some girl friends you can hang out and have girl talk with. Besides, you can always call me. We can work out the times when you'd be able to call me." Tea said with a smile."Thanks." Serenity said.

"Besides, Ryou will be here." Malik added.

"HEY!" Ryou shouted, glaring at Malik. He was now seven months pregnant, and he was rather large.

Malik shrugged. "You would make the perfect person to have that kind of talk with. You're understanding like that." Malik said.

Ryou glared even more at him.

Yugi smiled. "You know, Ryou. You are going to have to call and let us know when your little girl gets here." Yugi said.

Ryou and Bakura had found out that they were having a girl, and they were both excited about that.

Ryou smiled brightly at that. "I know, Yugi, and don't worry. I'll make sure to call and let you all know." Ryou said.

"And don't forget to send plenty of pictures for us to see." Tea added.

"Sure thing." Ryou said.

"School is sure going to be quiet without you guys around." Mokuba said, leaning back into the couch. "With Bakura and Marik not there to cause trouble, it's going to be dull." Mokuba said.

Serenity giggled. "Yeah. Maybe our last two years of school are going to be calm and normal." Serenity said.

The entire group laughed at that.

"Well, with all of us going to different schools, a lot of things should be normal. I don't see any reason why there would be any trouble for us." Atemu added.

"Unless someone decides to come onto your Hikaris." Joey said.

"True." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "You know that Grandpa will commit murder if you even try to use your Shadow magic for any reason." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami agreed.

"In any case, things should be calm for us anyway." Mokuba said.

Heba glanced around. "Where is Mr. CEO at?" Heba asked.

"Where he always is." Joey replied.

"At his office." everyone else said.

"He won't take any time off. He said that he took enough time off for our vacation." Joey said.

"It was a week." Yugi said.

Joey shrugged. "You know Seto." Joey said.

"I thought that he usually took his laptop with him to do some work." Yugi said.

Joey snickered. "Let's just say that his laptop met with a small mishap." Joey said.

Everyone stared at Joey wide-eyed.

"Please tell me that you did not destroy his laptop, Joey." Tristan said.

"Oh. No. Nothing like that. I couldn't do that with all his work on it. I just took it out of the suitcase without him knowing it, so it got left here." Joey said.

"How did he take that?" Yugi asked.

"Fairly well." Joey said.

"Yeah, right." Mokuba said, sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "The entire hotel could hear Seto shouting bloody murder when he realized that his laptop was missing." Mokuba said.

Atemu raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't someone have complained?" Atemu asked.

Serenity laughed. "You don't complain about how loud the man who owns the hotel gets." Serenity said.

"Seto owns it?" Yami asked.

"Yep. He owns several hotels, actually. He doesn't like to stay somewhere that he has no control of." Joey said.

"That's handy." Yami said.

"You know how Seto can be." Joey said with a shrug.

"So, what should we do with our final days of summer?" Tristan asked.

"Nothing strenuous." Ryou said.

"We have time to figure that out. We do have a few more weeks." Tea said.

"I suggest a quiet day at the beach." Yugi said. He looked over at Joey and added, "Think you can get Seto to take a break from work?"

Joey grinned. "Shouldn't be too hard." Joey replied.

"We can plan that for next week." Atemu said.

* * *

That night, Solomon sat at the table with Yugi, Yami, Heba, and Atemu.

"So, do you plan on doing anything before you have to head out to your schools?" Solomon asked.

"We have thought about it. In fact, everyone is planning to go to the beach one day next week." Yami said.

"That sounds good." Solomon said before he took a bite of his food.

"Are you sure that you're going to be all right here by yourself, Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

Solomon chuckled. "I'm not worried about it. I'll be fine. Besides, Joey will be over here all the time, especially when Seto is working. Plus, Bakura is going to help in the Game Shop." Solomon said.

"And I'm sure that you're going to see Ryou with his daughter." Yugi said.

Solomon smiled. "Yes. Since I can't play great-grandfather for you quite yet, I figure that I can do that with theirs. I'm certain that they won't mind." Solomon said.

"Not at all. After all, that kid is going to have a lot of aunts and uncles who are going to spoil here rotten, so Ryou and Bakura might want to be prepared." Yugi said.

"That's true, too." Solomon said.

"So, you don't want any great-grandkids from us yet?" Heba asked, taking a bite.

"Not at the moment. You all need to finish school first." Solomon said.

"Well, you have about eight years before you do that with me and Yugi." Yami said.

"How are you two going to handle being in America for eight years?" Atemu asked.

"We'll manage." Yami said.

"Besides, we'll be able to come home on holidays and summer break. Plus, there's always the phone and the e-mail." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "And if we want to pop home for the weekend, I can always use our Shadow magic to bring us back for a while." Yami said.

Everyone laughed at that.

"Not a bad idea. We might actually have to do that." Atemu said.

Solomon shook his head. "Not too much, though. People here might get suspicious if they see you walking around when you are supposed to be in America." Solomon said.

"Just once in a while, Grandpa." Yugi said.

"That I wouldn't mind at all." Solomon said.

"We might have to do that when Ryou has the baby." Heba added.

* * *

~The Beach~

The next week, the whole gang went to the beach.

"Man. The beach is deserted. I thought that there would be more people here than this." Joey said.

There were only a few people there.

Yugi smiled. "Look at it this way, Joey. We're not going to have to deal with a lot of people here and risk bumping into someone every five seconds." Yugi said.

"Good point." Joey said.

All of the couples set their things up.

It took a matter of seconds for Joey and Tristan to dart out into the water.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Yami asked.

"Because it's Joey and Tristan acting like buffoons, as usual." Tea said.

All eyes turned to Tea.

"What?" Tea asked.

"You so realize that you just said that about your boyfriend." Heba said.

"Yeah. I know. Tristan is a buffoon at times." Tea said. She looked at Tristan playing in the water with Joey and Mokuba, who had joined them. She smiled and said, "But he's my buffoon."

Yugi smiled at that.

Slowly, the others headed out into the water until only Tea and Ryou were left there.

"Aren't you going into the ocean, Tea?" Ryou asked.

"I might later." Tea said as she put on sunscreen. "Right now, I think that I just want to lay out in the sun for a while." Tea said as she put on a pair of sunglasses and lay in the sun.

Ryou smiled. "Well, swimming is out for me." Ryou said. He was in a chair sitting under an umbrella. He reached into his bag and pulled out a book.

Tea glanced over at him. "I'm amazed that Bakura let you come. He's gotten really overprotective of you since you got pregnant." Tea said.

"Well, he let me come on the condition that I not do much. I told him I would sit under the umbrella and read, and that's exactly what I intend to do." Ryou said.

"Well, that's good to hear." Tea said.

* * *

Out in the water, the others were playing.

Yugi and Heba both laughed as Tristan and Joey wrestled in the water.

Yami and Atemu snuck up behind their Hikaris and grabbed them, lifting them up off the ground.

"Ah! Yami!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Put us down!" Heba said.

"As you wish." Atemu said.

Yugi and Heba never had the chance to argue before their Yamis tossed them into the water since they were far enough out.

Yami and Atemu laughed.

However, after Yugi and Heba didn't resurface, the two became worried.

"What did you do?" Serenity asked, shocked.

The two started forward and shouted in surprise as they were suddenly dragged down into the water themselves."Yami! Atemu!" Tristan exclaimed.

Atemu and Yami came up sputtering while Yugi and Heba were laughing.

"That wasn't funny!" Yami growled.

"Neither was what you did. It's just a little payback." Heba said.

Atemu glared. "That was low." Atemu said.

"So was what you did." Heba retorted.

"You know, we can easily get you back." Yami said, starting toward Yugi.

"You could, and then you'll be going tonight without any." Yugi said.

Yami froze.

"Same to you, Atemu." Heba said, noticing that his brother had started to move toward him.

Atemu also froze. "You wouldn't." Atemu said.

"I could handle going without easier than you could." Heba reminded him.

Yami and Atemu both cursed in Egyptian at that.

Their friends all laughed.

"Come on. You were the ones who decided that throwing them into the water would be a good idea, so it's only fair that they have their payback." Bakura said.

"Okay. Fine." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Oh, don't worry, Yami. I'm sure that your ego can take this beating." Yugi said.

"Sure." Yami said.

The entire group laughed again.

They continued to swim and play in the ocean for a while before they decided to head back to where Tea and Ryou were.

"Have fun?" Ryou asked, looking up from his book.

"Sure did." Bakura said as he plopped down into the chair by Ryou.

Tea lowered her sunglasses. "I saw that little stunt that you two pulled out there. For a moment, I thought that you two had done something that hurt them." Tea said.

"So did we." Yami said.

"We had no idea that it was these two plotting their little revenge on us." Atemu added.

Heba laughed. "Well, if you don't want payback, then you don't need to do anything like that to us again," Heba said.

"Yeah. That was some prank." Joey said.

"It wasn't intended to worry them. We just had to get over to them without them knowing it, and staying in the water was the best way to accomplish that." Yugi said.

"There is something I want to know." Malik said, sitting down on his towel.

"What's that?" Yugi asked.

"How on earth did you two manage to come up with that idea at the exact same time?" Malik said.

"Yeah. Other than communicating with our Yamis, we'd have to talk out loud for that." Joey added.

"Well, twins have a way of knowing what the other is thinking without having to say it out loud." Heba replied.

Everyone looked at him like he's lost his mind.

"Of course, knowing sign langue helps with that." Yugi added.

"Sign language?" Ryou asked.

"Yeah. When we were kids, Heba and I learned American Sign Language, and we still know it. We just used it underwater to communicate what we wanted to do." Yugi said.

"That makes sense." Yami said.

The group sat down and started to get things out of the coolers and bags that they had brought for lunch. In all, they had brought sandwiches, chips, cookies, cupcakes, and ice cream, which was in the coolers.

"This was a good idea." Seto said, lounging back in a chair that he had brought.

"Is the workaholic CEO of KaibaCorp actually admitting that taking a day off was actually a good thing?" Yami asked.

Seto glared at him.

"It's not like you actually take a day off from work all that often." Mokuba pointed out.

Seto groaned. "Fine. I did think that this was a good idea." Seto said.

"I never thought that I would live to see the day that you admitted something like that." Tristan said.

"Don't spread it around, Taylor! I do have a reputation to uphold." Seto said.

The group went back to talking about different things.

It was now starting to get late.

"I think that we all need to be heading home. It is getting kind of late." Serenity said.

Everyone agreed with that, so they all packed up all that they had brought and headed back to their own homes.

* * *

Solomon looked up and smiled when he saw his four boys walk into the room. "So, how was the beach?" Solomon asked.

"It was fun." Yugi said.

"And tiring." Atemu said.

"Well, we did spend the majority of the time out in the ocean playing, so that is probably why you are so tired." Heba said.

Solomon laughed once more. "That will do it to you every time." Solomon said.

"In any case, I think that we're all going to head upstairs. We're all in need of showers and then a bed." Yugi said.

"Agreed." Yami said.

"Okay. Go on." Solomon said.

The four trudged on up the stairs tiredly.

Solomon smiled. 'I'm glad that they were able to spend a day with their friends. It won't be long before they leave to go off to college.' Solomon thought.

* * *

After a shower, Yugi and Yami both collapsed on their bed.

"Man. I know that the day at the beach is fun, but I am wore out. I forgot how tiring it can be." Yami said.

"I know. Between all the swimming, running, and playing that we did as well as the heat that the sun gave off, we're all beat." Yugi said.

"It was fun, though, and I'm glad that we were able to get together with them." Yami said.

"I know. Before long, the only way we are going to manage to keep in touch with all our friends is through e-mail, phone calls, and maybe the webcam." Yugi said.

"True." Yami said. He turned and kissed the top if Yugi's head. "But at least we are going to stay together." Yami said.

"I know, and I'm sure that everyone else feels the same way about their significant other." Yugi said.

"I know they do." Yami said.

Yugi sat up. "You know, I'm really going to miss being here all the time." Yugi said.

Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi's waist and pulled him back down so that Yugi was laying on top of him. "I know that you are, Yugi, but it's not forever. We'll be able to come back from time to time. Plus, we can always use Shadow magic to come back on weekends." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I know. I suppose I'm already starting to get a little homesick, and we haven't even left yet." Yugi said.

"Well, you've never really been away from home before, Aibou. I'm sure that anyone would understand that." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Yami. You always seem to know what to say to make me feel better." Yugi said.

Yami leaned down and kissed Yugi. "That's what I'm doing here." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "And more." Yugi said.

Yami let out a yawn. "I think that it's time to go to bed. I am beat, and I really need some sleep." Yami said.

Yugi glanced at the clock and then back to his Yami, a look of absolute disbelief on his face.

"What?" Yami asked, wondering what was going through Yugi's mind at the moment.

"You want to go to bed now at nine-thirty at night?" Yugi asked.

"Why not? I mean, I'm tired, and you're tired, so the perfect remedy that is to go to bed early so that we get some rest." Yami said.

Yugi started laughing. "I don't believe it. I never thought that I would live to see this day. At least, not so soon." Yugi said.

"What day?" Yami asked.

"The day that you didn't want to have sex. I didn't think that it would ever happen with the way you are." Yugi said.

"I do not have to have sex every day, Yugi." Yami said, looking hurt.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "The three-day period when I could get pregnant aside, you have never gone a day without us having sex, and once you realized that we could still have sex if I was the one on top on that three-day period, we haven't gone a day without it, and you're usually the one that start is, Yami." Yugi told him.

"It's not like you complain." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "No, I don't, but you have to admit that you have not gone without since then." Yugi said.

"Okay. So, maybe I haven't." Yami admitted.

Yugi shook his head. "I thought that we would be old with grandchildren before you would ever go a night without sex." Yugi said.

Yami smirked.

The next thing Yugi knew, he was pinned beneath Yami's body.

"Well, since you're so insistent, I might as well get some tonight." Yami said.

"I thought that you were tired." Yugi said.

"I was, but I just got a second wind." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "So, I take it that we are going to be grandparents before you are ready to go a night without sex." Yugi said.

"Probably." Yami said before he leaned and kissed Yugi.

Yugi moaned into the kiss.

The night was soon lost in passion for the two.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yugi and Yami start at Harvard.

R&R.


	45. First Day at Harvard

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 45- First Day at Harvard

The rest of the summer had flown by, and the time for everyone to head off to college had come.

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, Heba, and Solomon were all at the airport.

Atemu and Heba had the same flight time as Yugi and Yami. They were only heading to Egypt while Yugi and Yami were heading to Massachusetts.

"All right, boys. Don't do anything wild and crazy while you're gone." Solomon said.

"How will you find out if we do?" Heba asked, smirking.

Solomon smirked right back. "I have my ways of finding out something like that, Heba. I wouldn't tempt fate if I were you." Solomon said.

Yami chuckled. "Don't worry about a thing, Grandpa. We know what we should and should not do, and I'm sure that we'll all use our heads before we do anything." Yami said.

"Or at least ask ourselves if we'd want you to find out what we're doing." Atemu added.

"Good." Solomon said. He shook his head and said, "Please just don't make me a great-grandfather anytime soon."

Yugi laughed. "I think you already are." Yugi said.

All eyes turned to Yugi."What?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, there is no way that you-" Yami started.

Yugi sighed. "No. I didn't mean that. I mean that with Ryou and Bakura's baby coming, you're pretty much a great-grandfather already. After all, you've pretty well become a grandfather to everyone in our group." Yugi said.

"Now that is true." Solomon said.

"You had us all worried for a minute, Yugi." Heba said.

Yugi smiled. "That was certainly not my intention, Heba." Yugi said.

Then, an announcer over the PA system said, "_Flight 105 to New York, New York and then on to Cambridge, Massachusetts is now boarding at gate number 6. Again, flight 105 to New York, New York and then on to Cambridge, Massachusetts is now boarding at gate number 6. Please proceed to the gate in an orderly fashion._"

"Well, it looks like it's time for us to go." Yami said.

A moment later, an announcer over the PA system said, "_Flight 325 to Cairo, Egypt is now boarding at gate number 5. Again, flight 325 to Cairo, Egypt is now boarding at gate number 5. Please proceed to the gate in an orderly fashion._"

"And we have to leave, too." Atemu said.

"Well, you boys need to leave. I don't want you to miss your flights. Now, get going." Solomon said.

All four boys said goodbye to their grandfather and then to each other before they all headed to their flight gates.

Solomon smiled as he watched his four boys leave. 'They are all starting on a new adventure, and I know that they are going to have fun on it.' Solomon thought. He didn't leave his spot until he couldn't see the boys anymore. He then headed back to the parking lot and to his car.

* * *

~Cambridge, Massachusetts~

Yugi and Yami had arrived at their apartment after taking a cab.

Yami paid the cab driver before he drove off.

The tow then walked into the apartment building on campus and headed up to their apartment.

Once inside, the two dropped all of their stuff and found that all the stuff that they had brought before was right where they had left it.

"Come on. We had better get the rest of this stuff unpacked and put away." Yugi said.

The two walked into their bedroom and got everything put away.

"So, what now?" Yami asked.

"Well, we have a kitchen with nothing in it, so I think that we need to go and get some groceries to have here." Yugi said

"Point taken." Yami agreed.

The left and walked off the campus.

Before, they had found a small grocery store that was within walking distance of the school, and the two had decided that they would go to that grocery store when they needed things.

They headed there now.

Once inside, they started to get everything that they would need.

"It's a good thing that Grandpa is sending us money every month so that we can live." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Maybe, but we did agree to get jobs on campus so that we could earn a little extra money. I really don't want to have to use the money that Grandpa sends us all the time. It would be nice if we didn't have to use his money all the time." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "I agree, and we will." Yami said.

Once the two had gotten all of the groceries they needed, they headed back to their apartment and started to put the groceries up.

"Did we get enough food?" Yami asked.

"Well, we got enough to last at least two weeks. That way, we only have to go to the grocery store twice a month." Yugi said.

"Point taken." Yami agreed.

The two decided to go out and walk around the campus for a little bit.

There weren't that many people out and about at the moment.

"I guess there aren't a lot of people here right now." Yami said.

"Or there are just not a lot of people who explore the campus before school." Yugi said.

"Right again." Yami said.

The two then headed back to their apartment to get ready for school the next week.

* * *

~First Day of Classes~

Yugi reached over and shut off the alarm since it was going off. He sighed before sitting up.

Yami was still asleep.

Yugi didn't bother trying to shake him awake. He had given up on that and decided to wake up Yami a different way. {GET UP NOW!} Yugi shouted through the mind link.

Yami jumped up and tumbled out of the bed and onto the floor with a crash.

"Glad you could join me." Yugi said.

Yami reached up to the bed and then hoisted himself up onto his feet. "Why did you wake me up like that?" Yami asked.

"Because no other way seems to work." Yugi said.

"I know one way that works." Yami muttered.

"Yes, and if I tried to wake you up by kissing you, you would have taken full advantage of that by getting some action this morning, and we are not doing that on the first day of our classes." Yugi told him.

"Oh, all right." Yami said.

"Come on. We need to get showers and eat breakfast before we head out." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Yami said.

Once the two were showered and dressed, they headed into the kitchen where Yugi made them some oatmeal and toast.

After breakfast, the two grabbed their backpacks with their books and headed out to their classes.

* * *

~Lunch~

Yugi and Yami had decided to eat lunch in the school's food court.

"I can't believe these professors!" Yami growled angrily.

Yugi shook his head. "Settle down, Yami." Yugi said.

"I have a right to be angry. Just because I dress in leather does not mean that I will be a slacker in the class." Yami said.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Yugi asked before taking a bite of his burger.

Yami looked up and over at Yugi.

"Instead of griping about this, please just do your best in the classes and show the professors that you can be one of their best students." Yugi said.

"All right." Yami said.

The two continued to eat their lunch.

"Excuse us." a female voice said.

Yugi and Yami looked up to find two girls standing at them.

One girl had long, blonde hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. She also had blue eyes and wore glasses. She had on a pair of black Capri pants and a T-shirt that was pink. She also had on sandals.

The other girl had short brown hair that reached the middle of her neck. She also had light green eyes. She wore a pair of leather pants fitted for a woman as well as a tight-fitting black tank top.

"Yes." Yami said.

"Do you mind if we sit with you?" the brunette asked.

Before Yami was able to say no, Yugi said, "Sure. Sit down."

The two did sit down.

"Thanks My name is Carrie Matthews." the blonde girl said.

"And I'm Mandy Andrews." the brunette said.

"My name's Yugi Mutou." Yugi told them.

"And I'm Yami Sennen." Yami added.

"It's nice to meet you. Thanks for letting us sit here." Carrie said.

"Sure thing." Yugi said.

Yami hid his displeasure because he was certain that one or both of these girls planned to hit on him or Yugi.

"Mind us asking what your majors are?" Carrie asked.

"We're both medical majors. I'm planning to be a general surgeon." Yugi said.

"I'm planning to be a cardiologist." Yami said.

"That's cool. I want to be a nurse." Mandy said.

"I'm planning to be a lawyer." Mandy said.

"You've got the attitude for it." Carrie said.

"Carrie! You're supposed to be on my side!" Mandy complained.

"I am. You love arguing, you hate being wrong, and you're hard as steel. You'll make the perfect lawyer." Carrie said.

Mandy glared at her.

Yugi and Yami had to stop themselves from laughing.

"Sorry about that. My girlfriend and I tend to argue." Carrie said.

"Are you two together?" Yami asked.

"Yep. We've been a couple for nearly three years. Grew up together, went to school together, and then after we got to high school, we got together." Carrie said.

"How long have you tow been together?" Mandy asked.

"You knew?" Yugi asked.

"Sure. This guy," Mandy said, pointing at Yami, "gives off jealous vibes like mad. With all the guys and girls in psychology that were watching him, it was clear you tow were together given the way he was glaring."

"Yami! You know that you have nothing to be jealous about!" Yugi said.

Yami grinned. "Sorry, Yugi, but I can't help it." Yami said.

"No worries. I'm the same way." Carrie said.

"That's why you looked familiar. You're in that class." Yugi said.

"Right. Glad to meet ya." Carrie said.

"So, how are you liking the campus?" Mandy asked.

"It's not bad. Of course, this is the first day of class, so we're not going to know how the classes are really going to be until after a few weeks." Yami said.

"True. This is our second year here." Carrie said.

"First for us." Yugi replied.

"Where are you two from?" Mandy asked.

"We're from a small town in Japan called Domino." Yugi said.

"Cool. Why come here?" Mandy asked, starting to eat her salad.

"It's one of the best schools to go to for medical practice." Yami said.

"We figured that. That's why we came here. We're both from Bloomington, Illinois." Mandy said.

"That's nice." Yugi said.

The four continued to talk for a while before they all headed their separate ways.

* * *

Back at the apartment, Yugi and Yami sat in the living room.

"You know, Carrie and Mandy were nice." Yugi said.

"Yeah, they were. I honestly thought that one or both of them were going to try and hit on us." Yami said.

"Well, you were wrong." Yugi said

"I noticed." Yami said.

"Come on. We do have some work we need to start on already." Yugi said.

"Okay. Okay. I get that." Yami said.

The two then grabbed their books and started to do the work they needed to do.

* * *

The following day, Yugi and Yami had to get up at the same time since they had an eight o'clock class that morning as well.

"I wonder how these two classes will go." Yami remarked.

Yugi smiled at him. "I'm sure that it'll be fine, Yami." Yugi said.

The two were eating a simple bowl of cereal for breakfast.

The two then grabbed their books and headed out.

* * *

Yami shook his head as he and Yugi walked out of their first class. "I really don't think that I am going to like this class." Yami said.

"Why not?" Yugi asked, glancing over at his boyfriend.

"Because this doesn't sound like the type of class that I really want to take. I don't really have much of an interest in Sociology." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "We have to have the class, so we have to take it." Yugi said.

"I know. I know." Yami said.

The two walked on to their next class, which was French. When they walked in, they were both surprised to see that Carrie and Mandy were in the classroom.

Carrie waved them to come over there with them.

Yugi and Yami walked back to the far end of the classroom and sat at the back with the two.

"This is a surprise." Yugi said.

"Yeah. I guess we never actually talked about what classes we had, so we had no way of knowing that we had French together." Carrie said.

"So, why French?" Yami asked.

"Most people choose Spanish, but I've always wanted the chance to learn French." Carrie said.

"I am already fluent in French. My grandfather was from France, and he made sure that all of his grandkids were able to speech the language of his native country." Mandy said.

"Well, I think that we know who to go to when we need help with the class." Yami said.

"I'm ready, willing, and able." Mandy said with a smile.

Once the teacher walked in, class started.

* * *

After French, the four walked across the campus.

"So, where are you two heading?" Mandy asked.

"I think we'll go back to the apartment. We've already gotten some work in both our classes today, so I think that we'll go and get started." Yugi said.

"Not a bad idea, actually." Mandy said.

"Well, how about we meet at the campus food court for lunch." Carrie suggested.

{It's not a bad idea, Yami.} Yugi said through the mind link.

"Sure. We can meet in there at twelve-thirty." Yami said.

"Okay! We'll see you then!" Carrie said.

Mandy and Carrie then walked off.

Yugi and Yami walked in the direction of their apartment.

"This wasn't such a bad idea." Yami said.

"I know. I like Carrie and Mandy. They're really down-to-earth." Yugi said.

"I agree." Yami said.

The two walked into their apartment and sat down at the table, opening their books and getting to work.

* * *

At twelve-thirty, Yugi and Yami went to the food court to meet up with Carrie and Mandy. The two girls weren't there yet, so the two went ahead and got their lunch. Yugi decided to get fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. Yami went with a plate of spaghetti and a couple of rolls.

Just as the two sat down, Carrie and Mandy walked in. The two girls went and got their food before joining Yugi and Yami.

"Sorry we're late." Carrie said.

"No problem." Yami said.

"So, what do you two think of the classes so far?" Mandy asked.

"I think that they're going to be okay. Probably a little more work than we're used to, but I think that we're going to be able to handle it." Yugi said.

"That's what we thought at first, too. You get used to it." Carrie said.

The four were already eating.

Yami glanced around and could easily see who the jocks were, who the rich kids were, who the Goths were, and who the nerds were.

"Yeah. They have groups here, too. You can easily tell who is who." Mandy said.

"Yeah. I can tell." Yami said.

"You let them know that you're not interested, and they leave you alone." Carrie said. She nodded to where the rich kids were. "If you don't come from money, they don't want anything to do with you. You could be the hottest looking person on the face of the planet, and they still wouldn't want anything to do with you unless you were rich." Carrie said.

"And the jocks won't have anything to do with you unless you play a sport." Mandy added.

"Yeah. We figured that out from high school." Yami said.

"It pretty much the same thing, which I find to be sad." Mandy said, eating her salad.

"Why is it sad?" Yugi asked.

"Because we're in college now, so we're supposed to be grown up and out of this phase where you have to dress a certain way, act a certain way, or do a certain thing to be accepted." Mandy said.

"That's just life." Yami said.

"Well, you certainly won't have to worry about any of these people wanting much to do with you." Mandy said.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?" Yami asked.

"Because of how you dress. People don't like it when people wear leather. They think that you're in a gang or something." Mandy said.

Yami smiled. "Well, we do call our group of friends a "gang" back home, but we weren't a gang. Just a group of friends who liked to hang out." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Talk about a diverse group." Yugi said.

"Who were they?" Carrie asked.

"Well, you had a rich boy, troublemakers, former gang member, cheerleader, leather-wearers, and a few brainiacs. Personalities went from extremely cold toward other to happy and cheerful. All kinds in our group." Yami said.

"I'll say." Mandy said.

"That pretty well makes up all of the groups here." Carrie added.

"We know." Yugi said.

"So, were you all close?" Mandy asked.

"Yeah. We were. It's odd not having them all around. We all spent a lot of time together over the high school years." Yugi said.

'Except for that time we were complete and total idiots.' Yami thought, thinking back to what had happened with Yugi when they were ignoring him. 'Never again will that happen.' Yami thought.

The four talked for about an hour before they got up to leave the food court.

* * *

Yami was reading a book when Yugi came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him.

"What is it?" Yami asked, looking at Yugi.

"You need to stop beating yourself up." Yugi said.

Yami was taken off guard at the statement. "What on earth are you talking about, Aibou?" Yami asked, looking at him in shock.

Yugi smiled at Yami. "You might can shield your thoughts from me at times, Yami, but that doesn't mean that I don't know what you're thinking about at times. I can tell, and I know you were thinking about that rough patch we went through." Yugi said.

"That's a light way of putting it. That was more than a rough patch." Yami said, closing his book and setting it aside.

"Yami, I forgave you for that a while back. You don't need to keep beating yourself up over it." Yugi said.

"I don't think about it the way I used to. It's just that every now and again I do think about it, and I can't help but feel guilty about it. I still don't see how I could be so ignorant and stupid." Yami said.

Yugi sighed.

Yami reached up and took one of Yugi's hands in his. "The truth is that I don't want to ever forget how I felt about that." Yami said.

"Why?" Yugi asked.

"Because as long as I remember how I felt, I know that I won't do it again. I realized how close I really came to losing you for good, and that thought scared the hell out of me. As long as I remember, I won't take you for granted again. That's why I always remind myself of that." Yami said. He smiled. "Besides, it also means that I remember how close I came to losing my chance with you for good because of my recklessness. I'm not going to make that mistake ever again." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Yami, just try to remember that I forgave you for everything. It won't change what happened, but I do forgive you. Besides, I know that you love me." Yugi said.

Yami nodded. "I do, Yugi, and nothing is ever going to change that." Yami said.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that." Yugi said. He moved to sit in Yami's lap. "I don't like you making yourself feel guilty about something that is in the past, but if that's what you need to do, then I won't say anything else. I just want you to remember that I forgave you for it." Yugi said.

"I will, Yugi." Yami assured him.

* * *

~Three Weeks Later~

It was nighttime, and Yugi and Yami were doing some studying for a Psychology test that they were going to have the next day.

The phone rang.

Yugi reached over and picked up the international cell phone that he had to talk to his friends. He opened the phone and said, "Hello?"

"_Hello, my boy. How are you doing?_" Solomon asked.

Yugi smiled. "I'm fine, Grandpa." Yugi said.

Yami smiled before he went back to studying.

It wasn't unusual for Solomon to call them at least four times a week, and they also called him several times a week as well.

"What's going on, Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"_Well, I thought that you would like to know that Ryou had the baby today._" Solomon said.

"He did?" Yugi asked, smiling brightly now.

Yami looked over, raising an eyebrow.

{Ryou had the baby.} Yugi said through the link.

Yami smiled as well.

"How are they doing?" Yugi asked.

"_They're both fine. Ryou had an easy delivery. That's what Ishizu said, anyway. The baby is also fine. She's healthy as can be._" Solomon said.

"That's great, Grandpa. What did they name her?" Yugi asked.

"_Elizabeth Ann Mao. She'll be called Beth for short._" Solomon said.

"That's cute. Yami and I might have to come home this weekend to see her." Yugi said.

"_Via Shadow magic, I assume._" Solomon said.

"Of course." Yugi said.

"_Heba said the same thing. Well, I'll let you go. I just thought that you would want to know." _Solomon said.

"We did, and thanks Grandpa." Yugi said before he hung up.

"So, Ryou and the baby are all right?" Yami asked.

"Yes. They named the baby Elizabeth Ann Mao, but they're going to call her Beth for short." Yugi replied.

Yami smiled. "That's good news. You're right. We'll have to go and see her." Yami said.

"Well, we'd better get back to our studying." Yugi said.

The two then got back to their studying.

* * *

That weekend, Yugi and Yami went ahead with the idea of going home for the weekend, so Yami used his Shadow magic to take them to Domino.

Atemu and Heba were already there.

"Grandpa says that we have to stay in the house. Everyone knows we're supposed to be gone for college." Heba said.

"We knew that." Yugi said as he and Yami sat down on the couch.

"Ryou and Bakura are on their way over here now with Beth." Atemu said.

It wasn't long before Ryou and Bakura arrived.

"Oh, Ryou. She's so cute." Yugi said, looking at the baby.

She had white hair and soft brown eyes like Ryou.

"Yeah, but she loves crying." Ryou said.

"How are you doing?" Heba asked.

"I'm okay. Still a little tired." Ryou admitted.

"Well, I'm sure that Bakura here is a big help." Yami said.

Bakura glared. "For your information, I do help take care of my daughter." Bakura said.

Yami held up his hands. "Sorry." Yami said.

"Come on, Ryou. You should sit down." Atemu said.

"Thanks." Ryou said. He walked over and sat down on the couch.

"Do you mind?" Yugi asked.

"Of course not." Ryou said. He handed Beth over to Yugi.

"Hey there, Beth. I'm your Uncle Yugi." Yugi said.

Ryou laughed. "Grandpa has been going all out. You'd think that this was his great-grandchild by blood." Ryou said.

"Yeah. The old man loves to see her, and she's not even a week old." Bakura said.

"That old man is your boss, Bakura." Solomon said, walking into the room.

"Sorry, sir." Bakura said, actually looking worried.

Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba were all shocked.

Ryou laughed. "Let's just say that Bakura gets whacked with a broomstick every time he disrespects Grandpa or a customer." Ryou said.

"You do that?" Heba asked, looking at his grandfather.

"It was Ryou's idea." Solomon said.

Ryou smiled. "Well, I have my own method of keeping him in line, but threatening him with the broomstick seems to have worked." Ryou said.

The group laughed.

Yugi handed Beth to Heba since Heba wanted to see her.

"How do you two like school?" Ryou asked.

"It's great, al though it reminds of high school with the way groups are set up." Yami said.

"No joke." Atemu agreed.

"Well, you'll have groups in the workplace, so get used to them." Solomon said.

* * *

Yugi and Yami went back to their apartment at Harvard when it was nighttime on Sunday there.

"Beth is such a beautiful baby." Yugi said.

"I know she is. With any luck, she won't grow up to be a thief like Bakura." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "You know that Bakura isn't that bad anymore." Yugi said.

"I suppose not, but I hope she'll be on the straight and narrow, like Ryou." Yami said.

"I'm sure she will." Yugi said.

"I guess so." Yami agreed.

"Don't worry about anything, Yami. If I know Ryou, he will do everything within his power to make sure that Beth isn't like that." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami said, sitting down by Yugi.

Yugi glanced at the clock. "We'd better get to bed. We have to get up early." Yugi said.

"Yeah." Yami said.

"It was nice to go home for a few days." Yugi said.

"Yeah. It was." Yami agreed.

The two then went to bed so that they could get up for classes in the morning.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: A little time skip with a surprise.

R&R.


	46. Proposal

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 46- Proposal

~Three Years Later~

Yugi walked into the on-campus apartment that he shared with his boyfriend. He glanced around and noticed that Yami wasn't there. 'He must not be done with his exams yet.' Yugi thought.

Yugi had finally managed to convince Yami that they didn't need to have every class together, so the two had several classes that they had separately, although they were still taking the same courses.

It was exam time, which meant that since it was the end of the spring semester, the two would be heading back to Domino for the summer in a few days.

Yugi walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. He sighed. "Two more exams. That's all I have and then I'll be done this semester." Yugi said aloud.

The phone rang.

Yugi reached over and picked it up. "Hello." Yugi said.

"_Hi, Yugi!_" Carrie said.

Yugi smiled at the sound of his friend's voice. "Hey, Carrie. What's going on?" Yugi asked.

Over the three years of being at Harvard, Yugi and Yami had become good friends with Carrie and Mandy.

"_Are you done with exams yet?_" Carrie asked.

"No. I have two exams tomorrow and then I'll be done with them." Yugi replied.

"_I'm done, and Mandy has one tomorrow. I was thinking that we could get together tomorrow night and have a celebratory dinner._" Mandy said.

"That, and celebrate the fact that you two are graduating and heading to postgraduate school." Yugi said with a smile.

"_Exactly!_" Carrie said.

"I'll talk to Yami and see what he thinks. I'm sure that it won't bother him." Yugi said.

"_Great! Then we can tell you the rest of our news!_" Carrie said.

"What news?" Yugi asked.

"_You two will have to come to dinner with us tomorrow night if you want to know that._" Carrie said.

"That's blackmail." Yugi said.

"_That's right._" Carrie said.

Yugi sighed. "Okay. I'll see if I can't convince Yami to go to dinner tomorrow night." Yugi said.

"_Perfect!_" Carrie said.

Yugi smiled. "Anything else?" Yugi asked.

"_Nope! See you tomorrow!_" Carrie said before hanging up.

Yugi shook his head. 'Well, I know that we're going to have to go to dinner with them if we want to know what on earth is going on with them.' Yugi said.

* * *

Yami finished his exam, grabbed his things, handed his exam in, and then headed out the door.

"Hey, Yami!" a female voice called.

Yami mentally groaned. 'For the love of Ra, why won't these girls get a hint?' Yami asked himself.

All three years at Harvard had been filled with the girls coming after Yami, thinking that they could steal Yami away from Yugi, although that hadn't happened yet and wouldn't as far as Yami was concerned.

Yami didn't bother to stop. He just kept walking.

Unfortunately, the girl was persistent and caught up with him. "Where are you going?" the girl asked.

"Home." Yami said.

"Can I come with you?" the brunette girl asked, fluttering here eyelashes.

Yami growled. "I am going home to **my boyfriend**." Yami said.

"In that case, let's go to mine. My roommate won't be back for a while. We can have some fun." the girl said, smiling seductively.

Yami stopped walking.

Thinking that Yami had agreed, the girl reached to grab his arm.

Yami stepped back and gave her his famous glare.

The girl flinched.

"Listen and listen good. I am not going to go anywhere with you or anyone else. Get this through your thick head. I am dating Yugi, I am in love with Yugi, and I am not going to leave him for anyone." Yami growled.

"But I'm rich, and I satisfy you much better than he ever could." the girl said haughtily.

Yami smirked. "I am very satisfied with Yugi, and it takes more than money to make a couple happy. I have no interest in that or you." Yami said. He then walked on past her.

The girl, persistent, followed him. "You'll regret this." the girl hissed.

Yami turned to face her. "I don't date sluts, and that's all you are." Yami said.

The girl gasped.

"Besides, I am very happy with Yugi, I have no need to look elsewhere. Go find someone else to fuck you." Yami said. He then turned and walked off.

This time, the girl didn't follow.

* * *

Yugi was studying for one of his exams that he had the following day when he heard the door open and close.

"Yugi? Are you here?" Yami called.

"In the living room." Yugi said.

Yami walked into the living room, dropped his books onto the table and leaned down to kiss Yugi.

"How was your exam?" Yugi asked.

"Nothing major. After the exam was another story." Yami said.

"Another girl after you?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah, and this one was persistent." Yami said, sitting down by Yugi.

Yugi smiled. "Don't worry about it, Yami. There's nothing that these girls can do to change your mind." Yugi said.

Yami leaned over and kissed Yugi again, making sure that this kiss lasted longer. "Certainly not." Yami agreed when the kiss ended.

Yugi smiled. "So stop worrying." Yugi said.

Yami looked at the book that Yugi had open and said, "More studying?"

"Of course. Two exams tomorrow." Yugi said.

"Luckily for me, I have only one tomorrow." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "Don't rub it in." Yugi said.

"So, ready to go home in a few days?" Yami asked.

"Yes. A break sounds nice." Yugi said. He then remembered the call from earlier. "By the way, Carrie called earlier. She and Mandy want us to go out with them tomorrow night to dinner so that we can celebrate the end of the semester." Yugi said.

"And celebrate the fact that they are done with undergraduate work and moving on to post graduation work." Yami said.

"Of course. She also mentioned that they had some kind of news, and they won't tell us unless we come." Yugi said.

"Carrie and her blackmail." Yami said with a sigh.

Yugi laughed. "You know it." Yugi said.

"You know that Carrie won't stop bugging us until we go, so we might as well plan on going." Yami remarked.

"I know." Yugi said.

The two shook their heads.

"In any case, I need to get back to studying." Yugi said.

"All right. I'll leave you alone." Yami said. He stood up and went to the bedroom and Yugi went back to his studying.

* * *

The next day, Yugi was in one of his classes doing his exam. Once he was done, he turned in the exam to the professor before he left the class. He was going to meet up with Yami since his next exam was a class that he shared with Yami.

"Hey, Yugi!"

Yugi turned and sighed.

A boy was coming toward him, one who had tried to get Yugi to go out with him on several occasions.

"What?" Yugi asked. He was getting a little annoyed. So annoyed that he was close to telling Yami to give the boy a piece of his mind.

"Come on, baby. Don't be that way." the boy said, trying to wrap his arm around Yugi.

Yugi grabbed his arm and forced him away. "One, do not call me baby. We are not dating, so you don't have the right to call me that. Two, stop trying to get me to go out with you. It won't happen." Yugi said.

"I don't see why you are so opposed to this. I'm sure that I am much better than that guy you're dating." the boy said.

Yugi sighed. "I am very happy with **Yami**," Yugi said, stressing Yami's name, "and I am not leaving him. Stop trying to get me to go out with you." He then started to walk off.

The guy followed him. "When are you going to stop playing hard to get?" the guy asked.

Yugi mentally groaned. He was tired of these boys asking him out. He was asked out by guys as much as Yami was asked out by girls.

"Come on." the guy said.

"No, and I swear that if you ask me out again, I will ask Yami to have a word with you." Yugi said, glaring at the guy.

The guy's face drained of color. He had heard about what had happened the last time Yami had had a "word" with someone who hit on Yugi.

"So leave me the hell alone!" Yugi snapped before he turned and walked off.

Yami was waiting on Yugi in the food court. He smirked. "So, can I have a word with him?" Yami asked, having heard the exchange through the mind link.

Yugi sighed as he sat down. "No. One more time, and I might let you. You'd think he'd get the point given the number of times I have turned him down and the rumor about what you did to the last guy that was this persistent." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "I never even laid a hand on the guy." Yami said.

"And Shadow magic?" Yugi asked.

"Nope. I was just rather graphic with words, and I don't think that he thought I was joking." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "Let's get this last minute studying done." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Yami said.

The two opened their books and started studying.

* * *

That night, Yugi and Yami had gone over to have dinner with Mandy and Carrie at their apartment like they had promised they would.

"I'm so glad that you guys came!" Carrie said, smiling.

Mandy sighed. "Sorry. She's been excited all day long." Mandy said.

"Why?" Yugi asked.

"Well, because of the news that I wanted to give you guys." Carrie said.

"What's that?" Yami asked.

"Well, we're going to take a trip to Japan this summer to have a little fun before we start postgraduate school." Carrie said.

"You are?" Yugi asked.

Carrie nodded.

"That's great! We can show you around if you come to Domino!" Yugi said.

"Actually, that's where we're going. We thought that it would be fun to see your hometown." Mandy said.

"That's cool." Yami said.

"We hope that we can feet your brothers and your friends. You've told us so much about them that we really want to meet them." Carrie said.

"Well, we'll be glad to introduce you to them." Yugi said.

"Thanks." Carrie said.

"So, are you two coming to our graduation?" Mandy asked.

"Yes, we are. That's why we're leaving later for home. We wanted to see you two graduate this time." Yami said.

"We really appreciate it." Carrie said.

"No problem. Friends are supposed to be there for each other, so we're glad to be there for you." Yami said.

"And we're glad that you're coming. It really means a lot to us." Carrie said.

Yugi smiled. "You know that we're glad to come." Yugi said.

The four were soon done eating their dinner.

Mandy and Carrie washed the dishes before they joined Yugi and Yami in the living.

"So, when do you two leave for Japan?" Yami asked.

"Oh. We won't leave until the third week of June. We're going to go home and see our families for a while before we come to Japan." Carrie said.

"Are you guys going to have a place to stay?" Yugi asked.

"We've already made reservations at a hotel. We'll be staying for a month, so we're going to be able to see you guys for a while." Mandy said.

Yugi laughed. "I guess it's a good thing that we taught you two how to speak Japanese. You're going to need to use it now." Yugi said.

"Yep! We planned to visit Japan at some point, so we're glad that we know the language." Carrie said.

* * *

Yugi and Yami had packed the things that they were going to take back to Japan with them.

"So, are you ready to get home?" Yami asked, zipping up his suitcase.

"Yeah. It'll be great to see Grandpa, Atemu, and Heba again." Yugi said.

"Not to mention all of our friends." Yami added.

"Yeah, and we'll get to see Beth again." Yugi said.

Yami shook his head. "It's hard to believe that she'll be four in September." Yami said.

"Yeah, and from what Ryou has said, she's spoiled rotten. I think that Grandpa has taken to the role of being Beth's great-grandfather rather well." Yugi said.

"Imagine what he'll be like when we decide to have kids or when Atemu and Heba have kids." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "I don't even want to think about it." Yugi said. He chuckled and said, "Grandpa is going to end up with a lot of great-grandchildren because he'll treat every child born within our group of friends as great-grandchildren."

"I know what you mean. I don't even want to think about the number of great-grandchildren he is going to end up having." Yami said.

Yugi sat down on the bed. "In any case, it'll be great to get back home." Yugi said.

"Of course, we can't leave until after Carrie and Mandy's graduation." Yami said.

"I'm glad that they're going to be coming to Domino. I think that it'll be great for them to see our home." Yugi said.

"Yeah. We might want to forewarn everyone that they'll be visiting." Yami said.

"Well, I think that everyone will be open to them." Yugi said.

Yami looked at his boyfriend and raised an eyebrow. "Everyone?" Yami questioned.

"Okay. Seto, Bakura, and Marik won't be that open and welcoming to them, but that's just who they are, and Mandy and Carrie have already been told about those three, so they are prepared." Yugi said.

"I guess so." Yami said. He looked over at Yugi before he smirked. "And I think that we could make better use of the night." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I wondered how long it would be before you made that suggestion." Yugi said.

Yami then pounced on Yugi.

However, Yugi rolled them over. "You **can't **be on top unless you want to start a family now." Yugi said.

"Damn! I forgot about that three-day period." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "At least you're not going without. You'll just be the one that is sore in the morning." Yugi said.

"Better than going celibate." Yami said. He pulled Yugi down into a passionate.

Yugi dominated Yami for half the night.

* * *

Yugi was sound asleep, wrapping in Yami's arms.

Yami, however, was wide-awake. He looked at his boyfriend and smiled. 'I am so glad that we are together. I don't think that I have ever been this happy.' Yami thought.

Making sure not to wake Yugi up, Yami moved Yugi gently to the side and climbed out bed, thankful that Yugi never work up. He then walked over to his suitcase and opened a small compartment. He pulled out the same ring that he had bought on their trip to Egypt back in the summer after their high school graduation.

'I know that I'm going to ask him to marry me. I only hope that Yugi will say yes.' Yami thought. He looked over at his boyfriend in the bed and smiled. 'I get the feeling that Yugi will say yes.' Yami thought. He put the ring back up before he climbed back into bed with Yugi.

* * *

~Domino~

Yugi and Yami were at the airport of Domino. They looked around to see if they saw Solomon.

"There he is, Yugi." Yami said, pointing to where Solomon was waving at them.

The two walked over.

"Hey, Grandpa." Yugi said, hugging his grandfather.

"Hello, Yugi. Yami. How was the flight?" Solomon asked.

"Long." Yami answered.

"I suppose so." Solomon agreed.

Yugi and Yami went to get their luggage from the baggage claim area before they headed out.

"Are Atemu and Heba here yet?" Yugi asked.

"Not yet. They'll be getting here in a few days. It'll just be us for two days." Solomon said.

"That sounds good." Yami said.

Once the luggage was in, the three got into the car and headed off.

* * *

Once Yugi and Yami had gotten settled, they headed downstairs to find that Joey and Seto were there.

"Hey, Joey. Seto." Yugi said.

"What are you two doing here?" Yami asked.

"Well, I have some exciting news." Joey said, practically jumping up and down.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "The last time you were this excited was when you called us to tell us that you and Seto were getting married." Yami said. He shook his head. "I still have trouble with my hearing from the way you yelled." Yami said.

Seto and Joey had gotten married the previous Christmas season, three weeks before the holiday.

Bakura had proposed to Ryou shortly after Beth had been born, and the two had gotten married the following spring, which had them married for three years.

Marik and Malik had gotten married the summer after Bakura and Malik. They would soon be celebrating their third anniversary.

"So, what's this news, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"I'M PREGNANT!" Joey shouted.

Yugi's eyes widened. "Really?" Yugi asked.

Joey nodded enthusiastically.

"That's great! Congratulations!" Yugi said, hugging his friend.

Yami looked over at Seto, who was smiling with pride. "So, was this an accident, or were you two planning this?" Yami asked.

"Planning." Seto replied.

"At least Beth won't be the only child now." Yugi said.

"Yeah. I can't wait for the baby to get here." Joey said.

"How far along are you?" Yugi asked.

"About three months. We've known for a few weeks, but I wanted to tell you face to face." Joey said.

"You have no idea how hard it was for me to keep quiet about it." Solomon said.

"Well, it's a big congratulations to you." Yami said.

"What do Serenity and Mokuba think?" Yugi asked.

"They can't wait to have another niece or maybe a nephew." Joey said.

"Something tells me the Serenity is already planning the baby's room." Yugi said.

"Yep. We've already got a crib, changing table, and some generic toys and clothing since we don't know if it's a boy or girl yet." Joey said.

"That's great news." Yami said.

"Yeah." Joey said.

* * *

That night, Yami had decided to take Yugi out for a while.

"So, what's the occasion?" Yugi asked as Yami drove them to a restaurant.

"Well, I wanted to take my boyfriend out on a date on our first night back in our hometown." Yami answered.

"And what about Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"I don't think he would have wanted to come." Yami joked.

Yugi laughed. "I know that. I meant that we came home today, so I wanted to see him some." Yugi said.

"I know, but Grandpa understood. Besides, he's closing the shop tomorrow so that we can spend all day with him." Yami said.

"Okay." Yugi agreed.

'Grandpa certainly understood, especially with what I told him.' Yami thought.

~Flashback~

"_You want to take Yugi on a date?" Solomon asked._

_Yami nodded._

"_Why? It's your first night back here. You have plenty of time." Solomon said._

"_I know, but it's important to me." Yami said._

_Solomon raised an eyebrow._

_Yami pulled out the ring from his pocket. "This is why." Yam said._

"_You're giving Yugi a ring?" Solomon asked._

"_I'm going to ask him to marry me." Yami said._

_Solomon was shocked. "What about school? You'll be engaged for five years." Solomon said._

"_Actually, I was hoping Yugi would agree to marry me next summer when we graduated from undergraduate school so that we would already be married when we start postgraduate school. Neither one of us would quit school." Yami said._

"_I see." Solomon said._

"_I'd like your blessing to marry Yugi." Yami said._

_Solomon smiled. "That's your ancient Egyptian roots showing. Always have to have the male head of the family's approval." Solomon said._

_Yami smiled. "I suppose so." Yami said._

_Solomon chuckled. "Certainly, Yami. I would be thrilled to have you as an official part of the family, though you pretty much already are." Solomon said._

_Yami grinned. "Thanks, Grandpa. This is really important to me." Yami said._

"_So I see." Solomon said._

"_I appreciate you understanding this. I would have asked Yugi sooner, but I wanted us to be back here where we first met before I asked." Yami said._

"_All right then. Go out tonight and ask him." Solomon said._

"_Thanks." Yami said. He turned and started to leave._

"_Oh, Yami." Solomon said._

_Yami turned back._

"_Where did you get that ring? It looks Egyptian to me." Solomon said._

"_It is. I bought it back when we went to Egypt for vacation." Yami said._

"_That long?" Solomon asked, shocked._

_Yami nodded. "I knew I would ask him someday. It was just a matter of when." Yami said._

"_All right. Go on." Solomon said._

_Yami then left the room._

~End Flashback~

Yami arrived at the restaurant and the two went in.

The greeter soon seated them."You know that we didn't have to come to a place as fancy as this." Yugi said.

"Well, since we have jobs on campus during the semester, I have saved up some money. We can splurge this once." Yami said.

"All right." Yugi agreed as he started to look through his menu.

Yami also looked.

A waiter walked over. "What can I get you to drink?" the waiter asked.

"Iced tea." Yami said.

"Coke." Yugi said.

The waiter walked back off.

"So, what are you getting?" Yami asked.

"I don't know yet." Yugi said.

After a few moments, the waiter returned with the drinks and rolls. "Are you ready to order?" the waiter asked.

"Yugi?" Yami asked.

"I think so." Yugi said.

"What can I get you?" the waiter asked.

"I'd like the barbeque chicken breast with vegetables." Yugi said.

The waiter wrote it down. "What kind of dressing for you salad?" the waiter asked.

"Ranch." Yugi said.

"And for you, sir?" the waiter asked.

"I'll have a steak, medium rare, with a loaded baked potato." Yami said.

"What kind of dressing for your salad?" the waiter asked.

"Thousand Island." Yami answered.

The waiter then walked off.

Yugi and Yami talked for a while, even after their salads came.

Soon, the two had their main course.

"Time for dessert?" Yami asked.

"Sure." Yugi said.

The two ordered their dessert.

"So, do we leave?" Yugi asked.

"No. There's something that I want to ask you." Yami said.

"What's that?" Yugi asked.

Yami reached over and took one of Yugi's hands in his. "Yugi, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Yami said. He then pulled out the ting. "Yugi, will you marry me?" Yami asked.

Yugi gasped in shock.

Yami smiled. "Please?" Yami asked.

Yugi looked at Yami with a smile on his face. "Of course I'll marry you, Yami." Yugi said.

Yami smiled as he slid the ring on Yugi's finger. "I love you, Yugi." Yami said.

"I love you, too." Yugi said, leaning across the table to kiss Yami.

* * *

Yugi and Yami were in their room, lying in bed.

Once they had gotten home, Solomon had congratulated them both.

"I can't believe that you asked for Grandpa's blessing." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "Just my ancient Egyptian roots showing, as Grandpa put it, and I feel better doing I that way." Yami said.

"I think it's sweet." Yugi said. He looked at the ring. "When did you get it?" Yugi asked.

"Three years ago when we went to Egypt." Yami said.

"You had it that long?" Yugi asked, surprised.

Yami nodded. "I did. I knew I would ask you one day, and I knew I wanted to give you that ring when I saw it, so I got it and waited for the perfect time to ask." Yami said.

"So, when do we get married?" Yugi asked.

"Well, I had thought that we could get married next spring after we graduate from undergraduate school. That way, we'll already be married come postgraduate school." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "That sounds great." Yugi said. He laughed and said, "But no kids for a while. We don't need to have kids until we're both done with school and have jobs."

"I can live with that." Yami said, tightening his arms around Yugi. "It means that I'll get to keep you to myself for a while longer, and I don't mind that one bit." Yami said.

Yugi smiled at Yami. "I'm glad that you think that." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "It's the truth about what we feel." Yami said.

Yugi rested his head on Yami's head. "I'm sure that Heba and Atemu are going to be thrilled." Yugi said.

"Yeah, and I'm sure that Grandpa will be glad to see one of his grandsons get married." Yami said.

"He'll see Heba get married, too. I have no doubt that Atemu and Heba are going to get married once they get done with college." Yugi said.

"Probably. Still, I like the idea of us getting married, though." Yami said.

Yugi sighed. "Which means that between schoolwork and working I am going to have to find time to plan our wedding." Yugi said.

"I'm sure that we're going to be able to plan it. I'm going to help plan this wedding." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks." Yugi said.

"Anything for you, Aibou." Yami said.

Yugi then snuggled up against Yami.

Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi, and the two were soon asleep.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Atemu and Heba get home.

R&R.


	47. News

Here's the next chapter.

/blah blah blah/- Atemu to Heba

/blah blah blah/- Heba to Atemu

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 47- News

~Two days Later~

Yugi had been the one to go to the airport to meet up with Atemu and Heba at the airport since Solomon was working in the Game Shop and Yami was helping him.

Yugi had arrived at the airport early, so he sat down in the waiting area to wait on his brother and his brother's boyfriend.

"Can I help you, sir?" a woman who worked there asked.

Yugi smiled at her. "I'm fine. My brother is coming in, and I'm waiting on him." Yugi replied.

"All right." the woman said before she walked off.

Yugi glanced at his watch and saw that he had about half an hour before Heba and Atemu's plane arrived, so he got up and walked into a café.

"Can I help you?" the man behind the counter asked.

"I'd like a ham and cheese bagel and a cup of vanilla latte." Yugi said.

The man rung it up and Yugi paid for it.

Once Yugi had it, he sat down and started eating.

A man then walked up to the table. "Hey, cutie. Need some company?" the man asked.

Yugi held up the hand that held the ring and said, "I'm engaged."

"Oh. Sorry." the man said, walking off.

Yugi shook his head. 'I wish I knew why married or engaged men have to cheat.' Yugi thought. He had seen the ring that the man wore, so he figured that he was either married or engaged.

Yugi finished the bagel and latté before he threw them away and headed back to the waiting area.

"_Flight 201 is now arriving at gate number 12. Again, flight 201 is now arriving at gate number 12._" a speaker over the PA system said.

Yugi glanced at his watch. "Right on time." Yugi said. He stood up and walked to the gate to wait for people to get off.

The passengers from the flight soon started to file into the terminal after getting off the plane, creating a flood of traffic.

This was one of the times that Yugi absolutely hated being short because it made it hard for him to see over all the tall people. He was standing on the tips of his toes as he tried to see where his brother and Atemu were at.

Soon, Yugi saw the star-shaped hairstyle that only four people had.

"Heba! Atemu! Over here!" Yugi called.

The two heard Yugi before they saw him waving, and they headed over to where Yugi was at.

"Hey, Yugi!" Heba said, hugging his brother tightly.

"Hey, Heba." Yugi said.

Atemu smiled. "So, you were the one who got pick-up duty?" Atemu asked, hugging Yugi as well.

"Well, it was this or help Grandpa in the shop." Yugi said.

Heba laughed. "Meaning that Yami drew shop duty." Heba said.

"Right." Yugi said, grinning.

The three headed over to the baggage claim area.

"Thanks for getting us, Yugi." Atemu said.

"No problem. Glad to do it." Yugi said.

"How long have you and Yami been in?" Heba asked.

"Just a couple of days." Yugi said.

After getting their bags, the three headed out to the car.

"So, anything new with you?" Heba asked.

"Um, a little." Yugi said, blushing.

"Such as?" Atemu asked as they got in the car.

Heba sat in the front seat with Yugi, and Atemu got in back.

"This." Yugi said, raising his hand that had the ring on it,

Heba's jaw dropped. "YOU'RE ENGAGED?" Heba shouted.

Yugi smiled. "Yeah." Yugi said.

"Yugi, are you pregnant?" Heba asked.

"No!" Yugi said, shocked.

"You two still have a lot of school left, though." Atemu said.

Yugi sighed. "I know. Yami proposed, and he suggested that we get married next summer before we start postgraduate school. And no, I'm not pregnant. We're careful about that. We decided we don't want to start a family any time soon." Yugi said.

"Oh. That's good." Heba said.

/Apparently, Yami and Yugi are the only ones who want to wait until after marriage to have a child./ Atemu said.

/Shut up, Atemu! Besides, we're going to be married before the baby comes./ Heba said.

/Let me rephrase that. Yugi and Yami are going to be the only ones who get married before they conceive a child./ Atemu said.

/Marik and Malik don't have kids, and they're married./ Heba pointed out.

/Okay. Two couples then./ Atemu said.

/Joey and Seto are married./ Heba pointed.

/Oh, all right! So Bakura and Ryou are the only ones besides us whi have done this!/ Atemu said.

Yugi could tell that Heba and Atemu were having a conversation through the mind link, so Yugi let them have their conversation.

They soon arrived at the Game Shop.

Yugi noticed that Atemu and Heba still hadn't stopped their conversation. "Heba. Atemu. We're home." Yugi said.

The two stopped talking.

"Okay, Yugi." Atemu said.

The three got out of the car and headed inside with the bags.

"I guess Yami and Grandpa are still in the shop." Yugi said.

"We can put our stuff up and go see them." Heba said.

Atemu and Heba headed up the stairs.

Yugi headed into the shop.

Solomon looked up. "You did get Atemu and Heba, right?" Solomon asked.

"No, Grandpa. I got tired of waiting for them, so I decided to just leave and let them find their own way home." Yugi said sarcastically.

Yami chuckled. "Suits me just fine." Yami said.

"Ha, ha." Solomon said.

"They decided to go upstairs and get settled. They'll be down once they do." Yugi said.

"Well, help your fiancé then." Solomon said.

Yugi started to help Yami put out some of the new merchandise.

"Hey, Grandpa!" Heba said, going to him.

"Hello, my boy. Good to see you again." Solomon said, hugging his grandson.

"I see that you got put to work, Yugi." Atemu said, smiling.

"Yeah. I did." Yugi agreed.

"Now help." Solomon said.

Atemu and Heba looked shocked.

"Grandpa, we just got back." Heba said.

"Doesn't matter. You can sleep tonight. Get busy." Solomon said.

The two sighed before helping.

"Oh. I believe that congratulations are in order, Yami." Atemu said.

Yami smiled. "Yep." Yami said.

Yugi shook his head. "Heba thought I was pregnant at first." Yugi said.

Yami laughed. "Nope. We're not starting a family just yet. I think that we're going to wait until after we both have steady jobs before attempting something like that." Yami said.

"A good idea." Solomon said.

Atemu and Heba glanced at each other.

/I wonder what Grandpa is going to think of this./ Heba said.

/Don't worry, Little Star. He won't be angry. After all, you are going to be done with school before the baby comes./ Atemu said.

/Yeah. I know./ Heba said.

Soon, all of the new merchandise was put out.

"Good." Solomon said.

"Can we go relax now?" Heba asked.

"Go on." Solomon said, waving all four off.

All four headed in.

"So, next summer." Atemu said.

"Yeah. Just so we're married before medical school." Yami said.

Heba smiled. "When are you going to start planning the wedding?" Heba asked.

"Soon. I have a year, but I think that I'll go ahead and start planning it so that it doesn't pile up on me at the last minute. Besides, I'll have schoolwork to do, too." Yugi said.

"Well, I think Heba and I are going to relax." Atemu said.

"Okay." Yami said.

Atemu and Heba headed upstairs.

"So, now what?" Yami asked.

"We relax." Yugi said.

The two walked into the living room to watch TV.

* * *

That night, the four were sitting down at dinner.

/Heba, we need to tell them./ Atemu said.

/Later./ Heba said.

Atemu mentally sighed. /Heba, you can't put this off. You wanted to get married this summer, so there's a lot that's going to have to be done. We need to tell them that you are pregnant and that we want to get married this summer./ Atemu said.

/We'll wait until tomorrow./ Heba said.

/Heba! Either you tell them or I will./ Atemu threatened.

Heba knew that he didn't have a choice.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that Mandy and Carrie are going to be coming to Japan next month." Yugi said.

"Your friends from Harvard?" Solomon asked.

"Yeah. They decided to take a good vacation before they start postgraduate school. They're going to come to Domino." Yugi said.

"That's good news." Heba said.

"Yeah. They're excited about coming and meeting everyone." Yami said.

Atemu raised an eyebrow. "Talking about us?" Atemu asked.

"Some." Yami said.

"Do they need a place to stay?" Solomon asked.

"Grandpa, you don't need to offer a place to stay for every friend we have that comes here." Yugi said.

"Besides, they've already got a hotel." Yami added.

"Well, I look forward to meeting them. You have talked a lot about them." Solomon said.

"Yeah. It'll be great to finally meet them." Heba added.

"That is certainly good news." Solomon said.

/Heba, quit stalling./ Atemu said.

/Yugi and Yami-/ Heba started.

/Are done. Talk. Now./ Atemu said.

Heba took a deep breath. "Okay. There's something that I need to say." Heba said.

"What's that?" Solomon asked.

Heba was so nervous that he just said it all fast, "I' summer!"

Atemu slapped his forehead.

Solomon blinked, confused. "What?" Solomon asked.

Yugi was wide-eyed, and his jaw dropped.

"Yugi, are you all right?" Yami asked.

Heba swallowed, knowing that his brother had understood what he said.

"YOU'RE PREGNANT AND GETTING MARRIED THIS SUMMER!" Yugi shouted.

Solomon's jaw dropped.

Yami looked shocked.

Heba nodded slowly.

"When did this happen?" Solomon asked.

"I'm about a month along." Heba admitted.

Yugi thought through it quickly. "So, you'll be having the baby roughly around New Years." Yugi said.

"Um, yeah." Heba said.

Solomon was quiet.

"We decided to get married this summer since he's pregnant." Atemu said.

"Is there a ring?" Yugi asked.

Heba pulled out a ring that was an amethyst square-cut jewel. "In Atemu's defense, he proposed in March. I wanted to tell you when we were all together this summer." Heba said.

"And the pregnancy?" Solomon asked.

Heba winced. "A lapse in judgment. We sort of forgot that it was the three-day period." Heba said.

Yugi shook his head. "That would be why we keep a close eye on the calendar." Yugi said.

"No joke." Yami agreed.

"Grandpa, are you upset?" Heba asked.

"No. I'm not upset. I'm just glad that you two are doing the right thing." Solomon said.

"What about school?" Yami asked.

"Well, I've taken online classes each summer, so I only have to take three classes this fall to complete my program. I'll graduate this winter." Heba said.

"And you, Atemu?" Solomon asked.

"Well, I'll still have to go in the spring, but I can take those last courses online. I've already looked into that." Atemu said.

"Meaning?" Yugi asked.

"Meaning that we'll be moving back to Domino after Heba graduates." Atemu said.

"I'm glad you have some sort of a plan." Solomon said.

Atemu chuckled. "Yeah. I suppose so." Atemu said.

Solomon smiled. "Well, add another great-grandchild to the growing list." Solomon said.

"No kidding." Yugi said.

"I'm glad that you're not upset." Heba said, smiling.

"Of course not. I suppose there's a wedding to plan." Solomon said.

"We need Carrie." Yami said.

"Why?" Heba asked.

"Because Carrie could plan a wedding in a matter of a week." Yami said.

"She's that good?" Atemu asked.

"Yes." Yugi said.

"Maybe we could wait until they got here." Heba admitted.

"Not a bad idea." Atemu agreed.

"I'm sure Carrie will be glad to help." Yugi said.

"Do they speak Japanese, though?" Atemu asked.

"Yeah. They had use teach them. They're fluent in it." Yami said.

* * *

That night, Yugi and Yami lay in bed together after a few rounds of lovemaking.

Yami had fallen asleep rather quickly, holding onto Yugi.

Yugi, on the other hand, was having trouble falling asleep. His mind wouldn't settle so that he could fall asleep.

'Why now? Why am I thinking about this now? I haven't thought about it in some time.' Yugi thought.

Yugi knew the answer, and he knew that he thought about it a lot more than he wanted to admit.

'I suppose I do know why I'm thinking about it now. I'm really happy for Heba and for Joey. I guess it's their pregnancies that are making me think of this.' Yugi thought.

Yugi wanted to talk to Yami about what was going through his mind, but he was worried that Yami wouldn't want to talk about this because it would bring up a painful part of Yugi's past.

'But I can't just ignore this.' Yugi thought.

* * *

The following day, Yami and Atemu had to go out to get some things for Solomon while he ran the Game Shop.

Heba was upstairs laying down, trying to get over the long flight.

Yugi was in the living room. He looked at the manila envelope that he was holding in his hands. He had yet to open it.

When Yugi and Yami had gone to America, Yugi had left it at the house since there was no need to take it with him.

Now, Yugi was trying to find the courage to open it.

'I don't have to be worried about it.' Yugi thought.

Finally, Yugi opened the envelope and poured the contents out onto the table. He looked over everything that was in it until he came across the one thing he was really looking forward for.

A sonogram.

Yugi picked it up and looked at it.

It was dated five years before.

'I can't stop thinking about you. I never have. I can't help but wonder what would have happened and how things would have turned out had you survived.' Yugi thought.

Yugi stared at the sonogram for what seemed like house before he finally put it down and covered his face. 'Now what?' Yugi asked himself.

A few moments later, Heba walked into the room. "Hey, Yugi!" Heba said cheerfully.

Yugi looked up and put on a smile. "Hey, Heba. Over the jetlag yet?" Yugi asked.

"Give me a few more days and then I will be." Heba replied.

Yugi started to put everything back in the manila envelope. "That's good. I know that I hate jetlag." Yugi said.

"You don't get it." Heba said, plopping down on the couch by Yugi.

"I used to, and I hated it. I guess flying so much over the last few years just made me get used to it." Yugi said.

"Probably." Heba said.

Yugi was quiet a minute.

Heba looked over at his brother and knew that there was something on his mind. "Yugi, are you okay?" Heba asked.

Yugi looked back over at him and smiled. "I'm fine, Heba." Yugi said.

"You sure?" Heba asked.

"Yes. I'm sure. What do I have to be upset about? I'm engaged. You're engaged and having a baby. There's nothing to be upset over." Yugi said.

Heba frowned. "Yugi, I know something is wrong. You're babbling, and that's what you do when you're upset about something and don't want to talk about it." Heba said.

"Heba, I'm fine. You're just reading way too much into this." Yugi said before he stood up.

"Yugi, I'm-" Heba started.

"Don't worry about it, Heba. I'm going out for a little bit." Yugi said before he left the room.

Heba stared after his brother, wondering what was going on with him.

* * *

Yugi decided to just take a walk since it was a nice, sunny day.

The air was clean and crisp, and it wasn't crowded to walk in the small neighborhood.

'It's such a nice day.' Yugi thought. He looked around as he walked and seemed to see people with babies or young children everywhere.

Yugi let out a sigh. 'This just isn't my day.' Yugi thought.

Finally, Yugi came to the conclusion that there was only one place that he wanted to go at the moment, so he started for that place.

* * *

About an hour later, Atemu and Yami returned.

"We're back!" Atemu called.

"Good to hear." Heba replied.

Atemu and Yami put the stuff that they had gotten up before they headed into the living room with Heba.

"Hey, Heba." Atemu said, kissing him.

"Hey. I hope that you got everything Grandpa sent you out to get." Heba said.

"We did. We checked over the list three times before we headed home just to make sure." Yami said.

"Okay." Heba said.

Atemu could sense something was bothering Heba, so he said, "Are you okay? You seem worried."

"I guess I am worried about Yugi." Heba admitted.

"Yugi? Why?" Yami asked.

"I don't know. When I came in here earlier, he was trying to act fine, but I could tell that he was upset about something. I'm not sure what it was, but he was upset." Heba said.

"Upset about what?" Yami asked.

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. Just kept insisting that everything was fine." Heba said.

Atemu looked over at his brother. "Did you two have a fight or something?" Atemu asked.

"No. He was fine this morning." Yami said.

Heba shook his head. "Yugi was looking at whatever was in the envelope when I got down here, but he put it up and left soon after." Heba said.

Atemu picked up the envelop. "What is it?" Atemu asked.

"I don't know. I didn't look." Heba said.

"Maybe we should." Atemu said.

"I don't know." Heba said hesitantly.

"He wouldn't have left it if it was something he didn't want us to look at." Atemu said before pouring out the contents.

The three then started to look over everything.

"This is-" Heba started.

"-everything about when he was raped." Atemu finished.

"Why was he looking at this?" Yami asked, worried.

Heba picked up a sonogram. "This was on top of the pile when I walked in earlier." Heba said.

Atemu frowned. "Why would he have our sonogram?" Atemu asked.

"It's not ours. It has Yugi's name on it." Heba said.

Atemu and Yami both looked at it and saw that it did have Yugi's name on it.

"Is he pregnant?" Yami asked, shocked.

"No. Look at the date." Atemu said.

It was dated five years before.

"This is the sonogram from when Yugi was raped." Heba said.

"Why was he looking at it?" Atemu asked.

Something clicked in Yami's mind. He no doubt that he knew why Yugi had been looking at it, and he had a good idea where his fiancé had disappeared to. "I think I know." Yami said, heading out.

"What?" Atemu asked.

"Later. I think I know where he is. That's where I'll be." Yami said, leaving.

Heba looked at Atemu. "Any ideas?" Heba asked.

"None." Atemu answered.

* * *

Yugi stood in front of a grave. The wind blew slightly, causing his bangs to fly forward.

The name on the grave read _Baby Mutou. _

Yugi sighed. "I don't know why I can't get you out of my thoughts right now. It seems to be the only thing I've thought about." Yugi said. He smiled sadly before adding, "A lot of things I haven't thought about for a while I'm starting to think now."

Yugi stood there, quiet for a moment.

Arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind, but Yugi knew who it was. He leaned back and said, "Hey, Yami."

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Yami asked,

"I just needed to come here." Yugi said, looking at the headstone.

"Yugi, Heba mentioned you were upset, and you were looking at all that stuff about what happened. Do you want to talk about it?" Yami asked.

"I was only looking at a certain few of those documents." Yugi said softly.

"The ones pertaining to the baby." Yami said.

Yugi nodded.

"Yugi, talk to me." Yami said softly.

Yugi pulled out of Yami's arms and turned to face him. "I don't want to upset you." Yugi said.

"You won't." Yami said.

The two walked over to a nearby bench and sat down.

"Ever since I lost the baby, a part of me has always asked questions. Had the baby survived, would it have been a boy or a girl? What would it have been like? What would it have looked like? What would it have become? I always wondered, but I always managed to push those thoughts to the back of my mind. To not really focus on those questions." Yugi said.

"But-" Yami prompted.

"But after hearing that Heba and Joey were pregnant, I started thinking about those things again." Yugi said. He was quiet for a moment. "I was up half the night thinking about it. I can't escape those questions or the reality that this baby does exist. At the time, I was somewhat relieved to have lost the baby. At the time, I don't think I could have handled it with everything else." Yugi said.

"And now?" Yami asked.

Yugi took a deep breath. "Now, a part of me wishes I hadn't lost it. I go through those questions constantly. I just wonder how things would have been different if I hadn't lost the baby." Yugi said. He smiled a bittersweet smile as tears filled his eyes. "It would have been about five now." Yugi said.

Yami wrapped an arm around Yugi. "I'm sorry." Yami said.

"Given everything, I didn't think you'd want to hear about this." Yugi said.

Yami leaned over and kissed Yugi's forehead. "Don't even think something like that, Yugi. This baby is something that neither of us can deny. Besides, I find myself wondering that from time to time. It's not something you can just forget." Yami said.

"I didn't think you would have remembered about this baby." Yugi admitted.

"I can't forget about it, Yugi. And I don't blame you for asking yourself those questions. Honestly, I've always wondered why you never asked those questions." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I do. A lot. Especially on the day that I lost the child, but I try not to dwell on it." Yugi said.

"Well, don't think that you have to bottle all of this up for my sake. I'd rather we talk about things like this instead of you keeping them bottled up. As painful of a period in our lives as those couple of years were for both of us, I'd rather you talked about it. Communication is important in a relationship." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "I know." Yugi said.

"Especially in our case." Yami said.

Yugi laughed lightly. "Definitely." Yugi said.

"And I definitely don't want you going back to a shrink because you won't talk about it." Yami said,

"May I remind you that Dr. Grey did a lot for me back then? She really helped me deal with it." Yugi said.

"I know, and I am very grateful to her for all the help she gave you." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi said. He leaned against Yami and looked at the grave again.

"Yugi, I understand your feelings on some level, and don't worry about it. It doesn't bother me at all." Yami said.

"I'm glad." Yugi said.

"By the way, why was the baby buried under a cherry blossom tree?" Yami asked, noticing the large tree by the small grave.

Yugi smiled. "That was my doing. Since the baby didn't get the chance to se the beauty of the world, I thought that I would at least let it have some of the beauty near its grave." Yugi said.

"I think it was a great idea." Yami said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

Yugi was starting to feel a lot better now.

* * *

That night, Yugi walked into the living room and found Heba there. "Heba." Yugi said.

Heba looked back and smiled at his brother. "Hey, Yugi." Heba said.

Yugi sat down by him. "Heba, I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. You're right. I was upset, and I'm sorry for how I acted." Yugi said.

"What was going on?" Heba asked.

"In short, I got to thinking about the baby I lost back then. I suppose I started asking myself questions about how that baby would have turned out if it had lived." Yugi said.

"Oh." Heba said.

"Don't worry. I talked to Yami, and I'm okay now." Yugi said.

"Good. The last thing we need is for you to bottle up your feelings." Heba said.

"Yami said the same thing." Yugi said.

Heba smiled. "I'm glad you're okay now." Heba said, hugging Yugi.

"So am I." Yugi agreed.

The two were really happy and okay.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I just thought that Yugi would think something like this.

Next: Carrie and Mandy get to Japan.

R&R.


	48. Friends

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 48- Friends

~One Month Later~

Yugi opened his eyes and look out the window when it was morning. He then glanced at the clock. 'Nine-fifteen.' Yugi thought. He closed his eyes and thought about going to back to sleep. His eyes flew open. "Oh no!" Yugi shouted, jumping up and out of the bed.

"Keep it down!" Atemu shouted from his room.

"Atemu!" Heba scolded.

"Sorry!" Yugi called while he scrambled around the room to get dressed.

The door opened, and Heba walked in wearing his bathrobe. "Yugi, what's wrong?" Heba asked.

"I was supposed to be at the airport at eight-thirty to get Carrie and Mandy! They're going to kill me!" Yugi exclaimed.

Solomon chuckled.

Yugi and Heba turned to look at him.

"What?" Heba asked.

"You have nothing to worry about, Yugi. Yami decided to go and get them for you. He's already on his way back with your friends. He's going to drop them off at their hotel so that they can get settled in and then they are planning to take a cab here." Solomon explained.

"Oh. Good." Yugi said, instantly calming down since he knew that Yami had gotten Carrie and Mandy for him.

Heba smiled. "I can't wait to meet these friends of yours." Heba stated.

"They've always reminded me of a Yami and Hikari. Mandy has that firm, protective attitude of a Yami, and Carrie has the cheerful, carefree attitude of a Hikari." Yugi remarked.

Solomon chuckled. "They'll fit in fine here." Solomon said.

"I know." Yugi agreed, smiling.

"Heba, come back to bed." Atemu called.

"Atemu, get out of bed! You're not staying in bed all day, and I think that you need to be presentable when Carrie and Mandy get here!" Heba yelled.

"But-" Atemu started.

"No buts!" Heba snapped.

"Right." Atemu said.

Heba turned to find Solomon and Yugi staring at him. "What?" Heba asked.

"I believe that the pregnancy hormones are kicking in." Solomon answered.

Heba cocked his head to the side. "Why do you say that?" Heba asked.

"Because of how you just snapped at Atemu." Yugi pointed out.

Heba shrugged. "I can't help it." Heba said. He then left the room.

Yugi looked over at his grandfather. "Grandpa, Atemu's going to have it rough during this pregnancy, isn't he?" Yugi asked.

"Probably. Heba sounds like he's going to be one that will be rather snappish and demanding." Solomon said. He shook his head. "You're grandmother was the same way." Solomon said.

Yugi laughed. "I wonder if I'll be like that." Yugi wondered.

"You might be." Solomon said. He then looked over at Yugi worriedly. "You're not planning on having kids anytime soon, are you?" Solomon asked.

"No. We're both getting done with college before we do something like that." Yugi said.

"Good." Solomon said.

* * *

"Domino is such a quaint little town. I love it!" Carrie squealed.

Mandy sighed.

Yami smiled. "Glad you like it, Carrie. We'll take you out and show you around later." Yami told her.

"Thanks for meeting us." Mandy thanked him.

"No problem. Yugi will be glad to see you." Yami replied.

"We will, too." Carrie said with a smile.

"In any case, you're welcome at the shop anytime. Believe me, Grandpa will love it." Yami informed them.

"Thanks. We'll remember that." Carrie said with a smile.

Yami soon pulled up at their hotel.

"We'll see you later." Yami said.

"All right." Carrie told him.

Carrie and Mandy got out of the car and grabbed their luggage before they headed into the hotel.

Yami then headed back home.

* * *

Yugi and Solomon had just gotten breakfast ready when Yami walked into the house.

"Did you get Carrie and Mandy?" Yugi asked.

"I sure did. They're at their hotel, and I made sure to give them the address here." Yami replied.

"Good, although you should have invited her for breakfast." Solomon told him.

"They want to relax from the plane ride for a while, and I can't blame them." Yami said.

"Neither can I." Yugi admitted.

"All right." Solomon said.

Heba and Atemu soon came downstairs.

"Hey, Yami." Heba greeted.

"Hey." Yami said.

"Get your friends?" Atemu asked.

"Yes." Yami said.

"Well, sit down. Breakfast is ready." Solomon told them

The group sat down at the table together to eat.

"I just hope that Ryou, Malik, and Joey can keep Bakura, Marik, and Seto on their best behavior." Heba stated.

"We've warned them about those three, so they're prepared if they're on their worst behavior." Yugi replied.

"That's a good thing. At least everyone else will be on their best behavior." Solomon said.

"Yeah. I know." Yami said.

* * *

A cab pulled up in front of the Game Shop, and Carrie and Mandy got out of the car. Mandy then paid the cabbie.

"So, this is their grandfather's place." Mandy remarked.

"Come on." Carrie said, grabbing her lover's hand and going to the door, knocking.

Heba opened the door.

"Hi, Yugi!" Carrie exclaimed, hugging Heba.

Heba tensed. "Um, who are you?" Heba asked, refraining from hitting her.

Carrie pulled back. "Yugi, it's me." Carrie said.

Mandy slapped her forehead. "Carrie, that's not Yugi. He's too tan to be Yugi." Mandy told her girlfriend.

Carrie blushed and jumped back. "I'm sorry! I thought that you were Yugi." Carrie apologized.

There was a laugh.

The three looked to see Yugi.

"Hi, Yugi!" Carrie said, bounding into the house to hug him since she knew that it was Yugi this time.

"Hey, Carrie. You've already met my brother, Heba." Yugi stated.

Carrie turned to Heba. "Sorry about that." Carrie said.

Heba smiled. "It's all right. I've heard a lot about you." Heba told her.

"Come on in and meet Grandpa and Atemu." Yugi said.

Mandy walked on into the room, and Heba shut the door.

The four then headed upstairs.

"We have some visitors." Yugi announced.

Yami looked up and smiled. "Hey, Mandy. Carrie. Glad to see that you found us." Yami told them.

"Well, if we didn't get here, it would have been the cabbie's fault, not ours." Mandy said, crossing her arms.

"Suppose so." Yami agreed.

"Grandpa, Atemu. This is Carrie Matthews and Mandy Andrews." Yugi said, gesturing to each one.

"Hello." Carrie said, smiling brightly.

"A pleasure to meet you." Mandy added.

"Hello. It's always nice to meet friends of Yugi and Yami's, especially two such beautiful young ladies." Solomon said.

Carrie giggled. "Thanks." Carrie said.

"Carrie, Mandy. The charmer here is my grandfather, Solomon Mutou." Yugi introduced his grandfather.

Solomon chuckled. "Just a talent of mine." Solomon boasted.

"This is my brother, Atemu Sennen." Yami added, gesturing to Atemu.

"Hi. We've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you." Atemu said.

"Nice to meet you, too." Mandy replied.

"And you've already met my own brother, Heba." Yugi said.

"Sorry about downstairs." Carrie apologized to Heba again, still feeling a little embarrassed at the fact that she had hugged Heba.

Heba smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time that I've been mistaken for Yugi." Heba told her.

Atemu raised an eyebrow. "What happened downstairs?" Atemu asked.

"I hugged him because I thought it was Yugi." Carrie explained.

Yami started laughing. "That sounds like you, Carrie. Hug first, ask questions later." Yami said.

"Hey!" Carrie exclaimed.

Mandy started laughing. "Come on, Carrie. You do tend to do that." Mandy told her.

"And there was no harm done." Heba added.

"Well, sit on down." Solomon told them.

Mandy and Carrie sat down on one of the couches.

"Do either of you want anything to drink?" Yugi asked.

"I'd like some water." Mandy said.

"Coke." Carrie said, hopefully.

"No, no, and no!" Mandy said forcefully.

"But Mandy-" Carrie started.

"No. You know how hyperactive you get when you have soft drinks, so the answer is no." Mandy remarked, shaking her head.

"It couldn't hurt to have one glass." Heba said.

"Oh yes it could." Yugi and Yami retorted at the same time.

"What? Have you two seen what it did?" Atemu asked.

"Oh yeah. Carrie convinced me and Yugi to let her have some one night, and she wrecked our apartment. She goes beyond hyperactive." Yami said.

Carrie giggled. "Except you didn't mind that one night, Mandy." Carrie reminded her.

"Not their business!" Mandy snapped, turning red.

The boys all laughed at them.

"So, I guess Coke is useful for one thing." Solomon said with a smile.

Yugi laughed as he went to get the drinks.

"So, how are things with all of you?" Carrie asked.

"They're fine." Yami answered.

Atemu snickered. "Check out Yugi's hand when he gets back." Atemu said.

Yugi returned with the glasses then and handed them to his friends.

Carrie's eyes widened as she grabbed Yugi's hand and jerked him forward.

Yugi lost his balance and fell onto the couch beside Carrie.

Carrie ignored this as she looked at the ring. "You proposed?" Carrie asked, looking at Yami.

"Yeah." Yami replied.

"Oh, that's fantastic! I wondered when you were going to propose ever since I came across the ring!" Carrie squealed.

Yugi and Mandy both winced at the volume that Carrie's voice had taken since they were on either side of her.

"Hold on! You knew about the ring?" Yugi asked.

Carrie nodded.

Yugi looked over at his fiancé. "Care to explain?" Yugi asked.

"It's nothing, really. One time when Carrie and I had the same class, she came over to the apartment so that we could study for a big test. She came across the ring and asked about it. I told her it was an engagement ring for you, but that I was waiting for the right time to propose." Yami explained.

"I'm just so glad that you finally asked him. I hated knowing that you had a ring and I couldn't tell Yugi." Carrie said.

"How long did you know?" Yugi asked.

"A few months." Carrie admitted.

"Wow. I am impressed." Yugi stated.

"Yeah. It's the only secret that I have ever known her to keep." Mandy said.

Yami snorted. "I have no doubt that she told you." Yami said

"Of course. There are no secrets in our relationship." Mandy said.

Heba laughed. "Well, that's good to know." Heba said.

"So, what all do you girls hope to do?" Solomon asked.

"We'd really like to see the city. We've never been to Japan before, so we'd like to see as much of it as we can." Carrie replied.

"Well, I'm certain that these boys can show you around." Solomon said.

"Sure will." Yugi said.

"So, when do we get to meet the rest of your friends?" Mandy asked.

"Later today, actually." Yugi said.

"That'll be great." Mandy said.

Heba seemed uneasy, but decided to ask. "Carrie, Yugi tells me that you're good at planning things like events and stuff." Heba started.

"Yeah. I love it." Carrie said.

"Well, Atemu and I are getting married next month, and I need help planning a fast wedding." Heba said.

"Really?" Carrie asked, brightening up.

Mandy looked at Heba and then over at Atemu. "Get him pregnant?" Mandy asked.

Atemu looked surprised. "How on earth did you come up with that?" Atemu asked.

"Yugi and Yami told us all about the Millennium items and all that, and when people get engaged and then married with a couple of months, it usually means that they're going to have a baby." Mandy explained.

"She's good." Heba said.

Yugi laughed. "So, mainly what Heba wants is help getting this put together." Yugi clarified.

"Of course! I'd be more than happy to help! I love planning wedding, and we can have everything planned in a couple of weeks!" Carrie said, clapping her hands together.

Mandy sighed before she looked over at Atemu and Yami. "I hope that you two can live without your fiancés for a few weeks." Mandy told them.

"Why?" Atemu asked.

"Because she," Mandy said, pointing at her girlfriend, "is going to keep them so busy with the wedding plans that the only time you are going to be able to see them is at night when you go to bed."

Yami groaned. "I was afraid of that." Yami moaned.

"So, when do we start?" Carrie asked happily.

"Tomorrow." Yugi said.

Yami, Atemu, and Mandy all groaned, knowing that they weren't going to be seeing their lovers for quite a while.

* * *

Later that day, the entire group of friends met at the Kaiba mansion so that they could get together.

Carrie and Mandy were astounded by the size of the Kaiba mansion.

"Wow. This place is huge!" Mandy exclaimed, amazed.

Yugi smiled. "Well, Seto inherited this place from his stepfather, and he likes to live large." Yugi said.

"He sure can afford to do that." Mandy said.

"Once you get passed his cold demeanor, you find that he's not such a bad guy." Atemu added.

"I just hope that he's not going to be an ass since he knows that you're coming." Heba stated.

"Well, we'll deal just like we always do!" Carrie said cheerfully.

Atemu leaned over to Mandy and said, "Is there anything that can possibly bring her down?"

"Not really." Mandy replied.

"It's the same problem that we have with our Hikaris, Atemu." Yami pointed out.

"I noticed." Mandy said.

The group then headed inside.

"Hey, guys! Glad you made it!" Joey greeted them with a sandwich in hand.

"That's typical of you, Joey." Yugi said.

"What?" Joey asked.

"You have food in hand." Yugi answered, motioning to the sandwich.

"Hey! I'm pregnant!" Joey protested.

"And for the rest of the years that we have known you?" Yami asked.

"He just liked eating." Seto said, walking up.

"Carrie, Mandy. This is Seto Kaiba, and his husband, Joey. Seto, Joey. This is Carrie Matthews and Mandy Andrews." Yugi said.

"Nice to meet ya. Yug and Yams have told us a lot about you guys. Glad to finally meet you in person." Joey said.

"It's nice to meet you, too." Carrie said.

Seto groaned. "Not another overly cheerful one." Seto said.

Yami rolled his eyes "Ignore him." Yami told Carrie and Mandy.

"Plan to." Mandy said.

Mokuba and Serenity then came downstairs.

"Hey, guys." Mokuba said.

"Hey, Mokuba. How's college going for the two of you?" Yami asked.

"Great." Serenity replied.

Introductions were then made.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Serenity told them with a smile.

It wasn't long before Bakura and Ryou arrived with Beth along with Marik and Malik.

"So, you're the friends from America that these two talk about every time they come home." Bakura said.

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Mandy snapped.

"Mandy!" Carrie admonished.

"Please. It's not going to bother him." Mandy retorted.

Bakura smirked. "I like people like that. I think we'll be good friends." Bakura said.

"Yeah." Marik agreed.

"She's planning to be a lawyer." Yami said.

"Damn." Bakura said.

Mandy raised an eyebrow. "You two do stuff illegal?" Mandy asked.

"Not anymore." Malik said.

"We put an end to that." Ryou added.

The entire group was sitting in the living room when Tea and Tristan arrived, and introductions were made once more.

"It's great to meet you guys at last! Any friend of Yugi and Yami's is a friend of ours." Tea said with a smile.

"Good to know." Carrie replied, smiling.

The group then all started talking."So, you're helping plan Heba and Atemu's wedding?" Tea asked.

"Sure! I'm great at planning things like that, so I'll be glad to help." Carrie said.

"You can help, too, if you want, Tea." Heba assured him.

"Great! I'd love to!" Tea said.

"We'll start tomorrow morning. Be at their house at eight." Carrie said.

"Eight." Yugi, Yami, Atemu, and Heba repeated.

"Sure. The sooner we get started, the more we can get done in the same Day." Carrie said.

It sounded like it would be a long month of wedding planning.

* * *

"I'm not so sure that Carrie helping plan the wedding was such a good idea." Yami stated as he and Yugi got ready for bed that night.

"You're problem is that we won't see each other as much." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami said, sighing.

Yugi smiled. "At least Carrie and Mandy fit in well enough with our friends." Yugi stated.

"Sure. Carrie's just like a Hikari, and Mandy's just like a Yami." Yami said.

"Which is why it works so well." Yugi added.

"Well, since I won't see you much tomorrow, we'll have to make the most of tonight." Yami said.

"Somehow, I knew that you were going to say that to me tonight." Yugi said.

Yami didn't give Yugi another chance to say anything before he pounced on Yugi and proceeded to make love to him all night.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Atemu and Heba's wedding.

R&R.


	49. The Wedding

Here's the next chapter.

Sorry for the delay, but I have a lot of school papers that have come up, so I won't be able to update much until this is over.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 49- The Wedding

Yugi, Heba, and Carrie had done a great deal of work on the upcoming wedding, and they were close to be doing done.

"Wow. The wedding is two weeks away, and we've almost got all of the wedding plans done." Heba said, shocked.

Carrie smiled. "Well, I knew that we were going to manage it." Carrie boasted with a smile.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Carrie, you would have been able to make the deadline if we only had a matter of days to get the wedding planned." Yugi retorted.

"I know." Carrie replied.

Heba smiled. "Well, at least almost everything is planned, so we know that everything is going to be ready for the wedding." Heba said.

"Yep." Carrie agreed, looking over her list.

Yugi leaned back. "Does that mean that we're going to be able to actually spend time with our Yamis now?" Yugi asked.

Carrie snickered. "You guys really don't like being separated from your Yamis." Carrie stated.

Yugi smiled. "Carrie, if you understood the connections that Yamis and Hikaris have, you'd already know." Yugi replied.

Carrie shrugged. "I don't think that that is something that anyone can understand." Carrie remarked.

"She's right about that. Tea and Tristan certainly don't understand, and they have been around us for a along time." Heba said.

"I know. In any case, none of us like being separated for too long." Yugi stated.

"That's good to know." Carrie said.

Heba suddenly jumped up and dashed out of the room.

Carrie blinked. "What on earth was that all about?" Carrie asked.

In the next second, the sound of retching was heard.

"I'd say that it's morning sickness." Yugi answered.

Carrie shook her head. "He's had it all morning." Carrie remarked.

"And he has it most of the day, too." Yugi added.

Carrie looked at Yugi. "So, are you ready for that?" Carrie asked.

"Not happening any time soon. Yami and I do want to start a family, but we're going to wait until we're out of school and have steady jobs." Yugi replied.

"A wise idea." Carrie agreed.

Heba returned a moment later. "I hate this." Heba muttered before he sat down.

Yugi smiled sympathetically at Heba. "You know, Heba, this is just something that you're going to have to deal with for the time being." Yugi said.

"I know." Heba replied.

"In any case, at least you don't have to worry about the wedding plans now." Carrie said.

* * *

Yami, Atemu, and Mandy were all sitting around a table at a small café in Domino.

"You know, I really hate that Carrie was asked to help with these wedding plans." Yami said.

"I know. The only time I see Heba now is at night, and he's always too wore out to have anything to do with me." Atemu added.

"Meaning no sex." Mandy remarked as she twirled her straw around her drink.

"Exactly." Atemu graoned. He shook his head and said, "We have never gone this long without having sex."

Yami sighed. "Yugi and I usually don't have much sex during exams, but this is ridiculous. We have never gone this long, either." Yami added.

Mandy snickered. "It sounds like you two are completely sex deprived." Mandy said.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "Does this not affect you at all?" Yami asked.

Mandy shook her head. "You know, Carrie has planned a lot of things over the time we've been together. Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and such are things that she loves to plan. I've grown accustomed to it. I know the bed won't get much use other than sleeping while she has something to plan." Mandy explained.

"Well, you handle it better than we do." Atemu stated.

"I noticed." Mandy said.

Yami sighed. "With any luck, they'll get done with the plans soon." Yami stated.

"There's still two weeks before the wedding, Yami. There is probably still a lot that needs to be done." Atemu stated.

"In any case, why aren't you with them, Atemu? This is your wedding, too." Mandy said.

"Because all I am doing is waiting on my orders. I will be told what to wear, where to be, and what time to be there. Other than that, it's up to Heba." Atemu replied.

"The words of a truly whipped man." Mandy said.

"What about you? I've seen you do it in an instant when Carrie says to do something." Yami reminded her.

"I'm a whipped woman." Mandy answered.

"At least none of us have a problem admitting it." Atemu said.

* * *

Solomon walked into the living room to find Heba laid out on the couch. "What are you doing, Heba?" Solomon asked.

Heba sighed before he looked up at his grandfather. "This morning sickness is killing me. I can't stand it." Heba groaned.

Solomon smiled before holding a cup out to Heba. "Here. Drink this." Solomon said.

Heba sat up and took it. He wrinkled his nose. "Grandpa, this stuff smells horrible." Heba told him.

"It tastes worse." Solomon added.

Heba looked up at his grandfather. "Then why are you giving it to me?" Heba asked.

"Because it's an old family recipe of your grandmother's that is guaranteed to get rid of your morning sickness." Solomon said.

"Does it work?" Heba asked, looking at the drink wearily.

"Your grandmother drank it every morning for the first four months of her pregnancy, and she never had morning sickness, so I would say so. Same thing with your mother. It seems to work." Solomon told him.

Heba sighed. "At this point, I think that I am willing to try anything." Heba stated. He then started to drink it. He started gagging. "Good grief! This is disgusting!" Heba exclaimed.

"Do what your grandmother and mother did. Turn it up and drink it as fast as you can then drink about three glasses of water." Solomon suggested.

Heba took the advice and drank the drink fast before grabbing the bottle of water that his grandfather had and started drinking that as well.

"See." Solomon said.

"Ugh. I don't know if I can drink this every morning." Heba remarked.

"Heba, as your grandmother said, one glass of that is worth a day without morning sickness." Solomon said.

"We'll see." Heba replied.

Solomon just smiled at his grandson. "Trust me, Heba. You'll be asking me to tell you how to make it soon enough just like Ryou and Joey did." Solomon said.

"Okay." Heba agreed, although he wasn't so sure.

* * *

Atemu and Yami got back to the house and were surprised to find that Carrie wasn't there.

"I wonder where Carrie is." Yami mused.

"Maybe they all went back to do something about the wedding." Atemu said.

"Nope." Yugi statedas he walked into the living room. He walked over to Yami and kissed him.

"So, what's going on?" Atemu asked.

"We're done for the day." Yugi replied

"Done?" Yami and Atemu asked, shocked.

Yugi nodded. "We're almost done with all the plans, so we decided to take it easy for the rest of the day." Yugi informed them.

"That's good." Atemu said.

"Hey, Até!" Heba called as he came bounding down the stairs.

Atemu turned and barely stayed on his feet when Heba propelled himself into his arms. "Whoa! Heba!" Atemu exclaimed.

Heba looked up, smiling. "You won't believe it! Grandpa has this old family remedy for morning sickness! It works! I haven't felt sick for a while!" Heba shouted.

Atemu smiled. "That's good. I'm glad that you're not as sick as you were." Atemu said.

Heba nodded. "I know. It may smell and taste awful, but it is so worth not feeling sick." Heba stated.

"That's good to hear." Atemu said.

Yugi smiled. "He's been happy about it for a few hours since it has worked so well." Yugi told Atemu.

"You might want to remember it for when we decide to have kids." Yami said.

"I know." Yugi replied.

"In any case, we're almost done with the wedding plans, so we're going to be able to spend more time together." Heba said.

"That is probably the best thing that we have heard in a while." Yami remarked.

"No kidding." Atemu agreed.

* * *

That night, Yugi and Yami were lying together in bed that night.

"I am so glad that you're almost done planning the wedding. It means that you're going to have more time for me now." Yami stated before he leaned over and kissed Yugi.

Yugi smiled into the kiss as he kissed Yami back. "I know. Heba and I would still be planning it if it wasn't for Carrie. She's the real lifesaver." Yugi said.

"I know. I'm going to have to thank her tomorrow." Yami remarked.

"At least you won't have to deal with something like this happening while I'm planning our wedding." Yugi reminded him.

"Because you won't take so long to plan one?" Yami asked.

"No. Because I am going to start planning it once Heba's wedding is over. That way, I have a year to get everything arranged." Yugi answered.

"Sounds good to me." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "You would like it because it means that you're not going to have to give me up for very long." Yugi replied.

"Exactly." Yami agreed.

Yugi shook his head. "You are never going to change." Yugi stated.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Yami asked.

"The jury is still out on that one." Yugi said.

Yami then rolled over so that he was on top of Yugi. "Now, since this wedding has cut me off from you for two weeks, I think that it's time for us to have a little alone time." Yami suggested.

"You think that every night of the week when there is nothing that has kept us apart." Yugi retorted.

"Your point?" Yami asked.

Yugi sighed. "There's no point in me trying to stop you tonight." Yugi said.

"None at all." Yami agreed before he leaned down and kissed Yugi.

Yugi, just as sexually frustrated as Yami at the lack of sex in the last few weeks, wasn't about to stop Yami. He raised his hands and threaded his fingers through Yami's hair.

The night was soon lost in passion for the two.

* * *

~The Wedding~

It was the day of Heba and Atemu's wedding.

Yugi was helping Heba get ready. He was straightening Heba's tie.

"Yugi, just out of curiosity, how did you manage to convince Seto to let us use his backyard for the wedding?" Heba asked.

"Simple. I went for his only weakness." Yugi said.

"Joey." Heba stated.

"Exactly." Yugi said. He finished with the tie. "And you are ready." Yugi said.

"Thanks." Heba replied, looking at himself in the mirror.

"So, are you ready to get married?" Yugi asked.

"Sure am. Atemu and I were planning to get married after we graduated from college anyway. We're just doing it a semester early." Heba replied.

"Okay." Yugi said.

* * *

Atemu was ready and in the backward where the wedding arch was set up.

Yami came up to him. "You ready to tie the knot?" Yami asked.

"Sure am." Atemu replied. He glanced over at his brother and said, "Is everything ready?"

Yami looked confused. "Why should I know?" Yami asked.

Atemu froze and whirled around to face his brother. "You're the best man! You're supposed to know those things!" Atemu exclaimed.

Yami rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen, Atemu." Yami told him.

"Yami-" Atemu started.

"I don't know because I got my orders from the director of the wedding, which is Carrie. My only orders were to make sure that you were, dressed, and at the alter at two o'clock on the dot. We have ten minutes before that, so I've done my part." Yami told him.

"But-" Atemu started.

"Atemu, if something was ready, we'd be hearing Carrie shouting bloody murder. Trust me. I've been around her when she was planning a party, and if the minutest of details was wrong, she'd be screaming. I have no doubt that everything is fine." Yami informed him.

"Yeah. It is." Mandy said.

Yami and Atemu turned to find Mandy standing there.

Mandy was wearing a lavender dress that reached her ankles with a split up one side to the middle of her thigh. She wore high heels and had on a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. She also had her hair done up in a bun.

"Wow." Yami said

Mandy rolled her eyes. "Carrie got her hands on me this morning." Mandy answered their unspoken question.

"And she did this." Yami said.

"Carrie refused to let me come to wedding in anything but a dress." Mandy replied.

"No matter how much you protested." Atemu said.

"Exactly." Mandy said.

Carrie came up then. She had on a light pink, strapless dress that reached her ankles. She had on white high heels. She also wore a turquoise necklace and diamond earrings. "Don't just stand there. Get into place." Carrie ordered.

Atemu and Yami didn't ask questions. They just did as they were told.

"You have them scared stiff." Mandy said.

"Get in your seat! We're about to start!" Carrie ordered.

Mandy headed for her seat, not about to incite Carrie's wrath.

* * *

The wedding was ready to begin.

The guests that were there were only family and close friends.

Atemu was standing at the alter with Yami, the best man, standing beside him.

The priest was also there.

Yugi had come down and was standing on the other side of the alter so that he could act as Heba's best man.

The music then started to play, and Heba appeared.

Once Atemu and Heba saw each other, it was like no one else existed. All they saw was each other.

Heba reached the alter and stood in front of Atemu.

The priest then started. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Atemu Sennen and Heba Mutou together in holy matrimony." the priest said. He then turned to Atemu. "Atemu, do you to take Heba as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death due you part?" the priest asked.

"I do." Atemu said.

"And Heba, do you take Atemu as your lawfully wedded husband, to have to and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death due you part?" the priest asked.

"I do." Heba answered.

"The rings, please." the priest said.

Yugi handed one of the gold rings to Heba, and Yami handed the other gold ring to Atemu.

"Atemu, place the ring on Heba's right hand and say 'with this ring, I thee wed'." the priest said.

Atemu placed the gold ring on Heba's ring finger on his right hand and said, "With this ring, I thee wed."

"Heba, place the ring on Atemu's right and say 'with this ring, I thee wed'." the priest said.

Heba placed the gold ring on Atemu's ring finger on his right hand and said, "With this ring, I thee wed."

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your husband." the priest said.

Atemu and Heba happily kissed each other.

The guests all clapped for the couple.

"May I present to you for the first time Mr. Atemu and Heba Sennen." the priest said.

Once more, there was more applause.

* * *

~The Reception~

After the wedding, everyone had started to mingle together at the reception.

Atemu and Heba were being congratulated on their marriage.

"So, finally tied the knot." Marik said.

"We were planning to get married anyway, Marik." Atemu replied.

Bakura looked over at Yami. "Looks like you and the shrimp are the only ones that need to get hitched now." Bakura stated.

"You're forgetting about Tea and Tristan, Bakura. They haven't gotten married yet." Yugi said.

"And Serenity and Mokuba." Yami added.

"They ain't getting married any time soon." Joey stated firmly.

"Oh, come on, Joey." Serenity said.

"No way, sis. You two had better finish college before you even think about getting married." Joey told her firmly.

"Indeed." Seto agreed.

Mokuba sighed. "You'd think that we were going to drop out just because we got married." Mokuba said.

"Yeah. Yugi and Yami are planning to get married while still going to college." Serenity added.

"The difference is that they don't have overprotective big brothers who are going to make sure they don't get married until after college." Mandy told her.

"Nothing wrong with being overprotective." Seto retorted.

"Never said there was." Mandy said.

Atemu and Heba walked over.

"So, ready for the honeymoon?" Ryou asked.

"Yes. We are." Heba said. He looked at Seto and said, "You didn't have to pay for the honeymoon, Seto."

"My wedding gift." Seto said.

"Don't look a gift in the mouth." Bakura advised.

Music started playing.

"Time to dance." Heba said.

The different couples then started to dance.

"So, are you ready for us to get married?" Yami asked.

"I am ready to get married, but I can wait another year. It'll give me plenty of time to get the wedding arranged." Yugi said.

"Are you going to ask Carrie to help?" Yami asked.

"Do you have any idea what she would do to me if I left her out?" Yugi asked.

"Point taken." Yami agreed.

It wasn't long before the reception came to a close, and it was time for Atemu and Heba to head off on their honeymoon.

"At least you don't have to worry about him getting pregnant." Bakura snickered.

Atemu rolled his eyes. "We know that." Atemu said.

Everyone laughed.

"Just have a good time." Yugi said, hugging his brother.

"I will, Yugi. See you in a week." Heba replied.

Atemu and Heba got in the car and drove to the airport to catch their flight.

"Well, looks like we're down to three couples that need to get hitched." Bakura said.

"We'll be getting married next year, Bakura." Yugi said.

"Well, at least we know something that we are going to do be doing next summer." Bakura remarked.

"All right. The wedding and the reception are over. Get out." Seto said before heading inside.

"A wonderful host." Malik said sarcastically.

Carrie laughed. "Part of his charm." Carrie said.

Everyone did head back home.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yami and Yugi spend a little time relaxing before going back to Harvard.

R&R.


	50. Relaxation

Here's the next chapter. Sorry that it's so short.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 50- Relaxation

Yugi was laid out on his stomach on a beach towel. He had a content smile on his face as he let the sun's raise hit him. He had his arms crossed with his head resting on his arms. He then giggled as lips suddenly caressed the back of his neck. "Yami! Stop!" Yugi exclaimed, laughing.

Yami chuckled. "Now why would I do something like that?" Yami asked, nuzzling the back of Yugi's neck.

"Because you'll be on the couch tonight if you don't stop it." Yugi retorted.

Yami stopped, but pouted. "Oh, come on, Aibou. We don't have but a few more weeks of summer. I want us to have fun before we get back into the swing of things with school." Yami stated.

Yugi tried to turn over to face Yami, but found he couldn't because of the fact that Yami was sitting on his back. He sighed and said, "Yami, get off my back."

"But-" Yami started.

"Yami, this looks really bad to other people, and I don't want to scar any innocent children for life. Now get off!" Yugi ordered in a tone that clearly said he would cut Yami off if he didn't act now.

Yami knew when Yugi was dead serious and decided to get off of his Hikari, moving to sit beside him.

Yugi sat up and turned to face Yami. "Now, I know that you want to affectionate with me, but I was trying to get a tan." Yugi told him.

"I like your skin just the way it is." Yami replied, rubbing his hand up and down Yugi's arm.

Yugi motioned to Yami's own skin. "You've only been in the sun over the summer, and you've already got a deep tan." Yugi said.

"Not like Atemu's." Yami retorted.

Yugi sighed. "You still have a deeper tan that me." Yugi said. His skin was still as pale as ever.

"But I like your skin the way it is." Yami whined.

Yugi then started laughing.

Yami blinked, startled. "What?" Yami inquired curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"I would love for your court from back in Egypt to see you now. Whining over the fact that your fiancé wants to get a tan." Yugi answered before bursting into a fit of giggles.

Yami blushed lightly, though it was near invisible under his tanned skin.

That only made Yugi laugh more.

Yami growled. "Knock it off, Aibou." Yami snapped.

"It's just a f-funny I idea." Yugi replied, continuing to laugh.

Yami growled again before tackling Yugi to the ground.

"Hey!" Yugi exclaimed.

Yami smirked down at Yugi mischievously. "Oh, I know just how to deal with you." Yami told Yugi.

Yugi's eyes widened once he realized exactly what Yami had in mind. "Yami! Don't you dare!" Yugi squealed.

"Oh, I dare." Yami replied before he started to tickle Yugi.

Yugi started laughing as he tried to squirm out of Yami's grip. "Y-Yami! St-stop!" Yugi gasped out.

"Nope." Yami replied, still smiling as he watched Yugi try to get away.

Yugi laughed until he started to cry.

Yami decided that he had tortured Yugi enough since Yugi had started crying because he laughed so much. Yami stopped tickling Yugi.

Yugi took several deep breaths before he sat up. "That was so not funny, Yami." Yugi told him.

Yami smirked. "I thought it was." Yami replied.

Yugi shook his head. "You are so not getting any tonight." Yugi stated.

"We'll see about that. You find it very hard to resist me." Yami informed him.

"Maybe, but you do remember that the only you get any tonight is if you're on the bottom." Yugi reminded him, smiling innocently.

Yami's eyes widened as he realized that Yugi was right.

"You should have been a little nicer to me had you wanted me to actually take you tonight." Yugi told him before jumping up and dashing for the ocean.

"Hey! Yugi! Come back!" Yami shouted, jumping up and chasing Yugi.

* * *

Heba and Atemu walked into the house after being out for the entire morning and most of the afternoon.

Solomon turned and smiled at them. "So, how was the doctor's appointment?" Solomon asked.

"It was fine. We're both doing okay." Heba answered.

"With any luck, we'll be able to find out what we're having at the next doctor's appointment." Atemu added.

"That is good news." Solomon agreed. He was sweeping up the floor of the store.

"Closing already?" Heba asked.

"Not yet. Just cleaning while I have no customers." Solomon replied.

Atemu glanced around. "Are Yugi and Yami not here?" Atemu asked.

"No. They decided to spend the day at the beach." Solomon replied.

"Well, they do have to go back to school in a few weeks, so they deserve to have some time to relax." Heba stated.

"Yes. They do." Solomon agreed.

"In any case, we'll be upstairs if you need us, Grandpa." Heba said before he and Atemu headed upstairs.

Solomon shook his head. 'They're young, in love, newly married, and have a baby on the way. Atemu and Heba seem happy, though. I'm just glad of that.' Solomon thought. He smiled. 'And we're going to have another wedding next summer.' Solomon thought, thinking of Yugi and Yami's wedding the next year.

* * *

Yami had chased Yugi out into the ocean, and the two played around for a while in the water.

Once the two were wore out, they went back to where their stuff was.

Yugi collapsed onto the towel. "I am wore out." Yugi stated, brushing his wet bangs out of his eyes.

Yami chuckled. "I know the feeling." Yami replied as he sat down on the towel beside Yugi's.

Yugi leaned back and looked up.

The sun had started to set, which gave the sky a red tint to it. There wasn't a breeze, but it wasn't as hot as it had been earlier in the day. There were not that many people left on the beach now.

"Are you okay?" Yami asked.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking." Yugi replied.

"About?" Yami prodded.

Yugi sat up and turned to face Yami. "Do you want to take a walk along the beach?" Yugi asked.

Yami looked at Yugi in disbelief. "It's late, and we should be getting back to the house." Yami reminded him.

"It would be romantic to walk down the beach hand-in-hand at sunset." Yugi told him, smiling.

Yami thought about it before smiling. "You know, that does sound like a good idea." Yami agreed.

The two then stood up before starting to walk along the beach with their hands intertwined.

"Yami, what do you think about getting married at the end of May?" Yugi asked.

Yami turned and looked at Yugi. "What brought this on?" Yami asked.

Yugi smiled. "I'm trying to get as few of the easy details done as possible." Yugi replied.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "That is easy?" Yami asked.

Yugi smiled. "Picking the date will be one of easiest decisions about the wedding that we're going to have to make." Yugi said.

Yami thought about it a moment before he replied, "You know, I think the end of May sounds good. Do you have a specific date?"

"I was thinking about the 28th." Yugi replied.

Yami nodded. "That sounds good to me." Yami stated.

Yugi smiled. "Thanks." Yugi said.

The two continued to walk down the beach for a bit.

The sun was still setting, although it was getting harder and harder to see.

"Come on, Yugi. I think that we had better get our stuff and head home. Grandpa will worry if we don't get home soon." Yami remarked.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. It doesn't matter how old we get. Grandpa is always going to worry." Yugi agreed.

The two went back to where they had left their things and gathered them up before they headed for the car.

Once in the car, the two headed home.

* * *

Heba set the platter of lasagna on the table that he had made for dinner.

Solomon reached over to get some.

Heba hit the top of Solomon's hand with a ladle.

"Ow! Heba! What was that for?" Solomon demanded, rubbing his throbbing hand.

"Can't you wait until the bread is done, too?" Heba asked.

Solomon sighed. "I can't help it. I'm hungry." Solomon said.

Atemu laughed. "One would think that you hadn't eaten in years instead of just since lunch." Atemu stated.

Solomon glared at him.

Heba shook his head. He then went to the over and checked the bread.

Solomon tried to sneak a little bit of the lasagna.

"Don't even think about it, Grandpa!" Heba snapped with his back to him.

Solomon jumped and moved his hand back quickly.

Atemu laughed again.

"How does he do that?" Solomon asked.

"I don't know, but I learned to never try to sneak any food when Heba's around. I swear that he has eyes in the back of his head." Atemu remarked.

Solomon glanced over at where Heba was getting the bread. "That will come in handy when your child gets older. It will make it that much harder for him or her to get away with anything." Solomon remarked.

"That's probably. A good thing." Atemu stated.

Heba placed the bread in a basket before he took it over to the table and set it down along with the lasagna.

"What about Yami and Yugi?" Atemu asked.

"They can heat it up when they get in." Heba answered.

At that moment, the front door opened , and Yugi and Yami came in.

"Just in time for dinner." Solomon said.

"And it smells great." Yami remarked as the two came into view.

"Then come on and eat." Atemu told them.

"I think that we need to take a shower before we do anything else." Yugi replied.

"Well, hurry up. We're not waiting on you." Solomon said.

Yugi glanced over at Heba and said, "You've had to keep him out of the food, haven't you?"

Heba nodded.

"How did you know." Solomon asked.

"We've had to do that for years." Yugi replied before he and Yami headed upstairs.

Solomon shook his head. "I never understood how they could do that." Solomon remarked.

Heba laughed. "We have eyes in the back of our heads, remember?" Heba said.

"I meant how you knew things that I had done just by a few words." Solomon remarked.

"That's easy. We know you too well." Heba told his grandfather.

* * *

That night, Yugi and Yami were lying in bed together.

Yugi glanced out the window.

It was a clear night, and it was easy to see the full moon that was hanging high in the sky.

Yugi smiled.

"What's on your mind?" Yami asked.

Yugi turned to face Yami. "I was just thinking of how peaceful it is right now." Yugi said.

"As opposed to our teenage years when we were off saving the world every time you turn around." Yami stated, smirking.

Yugi started laughing. "I suppose so. We did have eventful teenage years." Yugi said.

"Maybe we'll be able to have dull adult years." Yami stated.

"Hmm-mm." Yugi agreed.

The two were quiet for a few moments.

"So, are you ready to go back to school?" Yami asked.

Yugi groaned. "No. I like being home." Yugi said.

Yami chuckled. "We could always transfer to the medical school in Tokyo so that we'll be closer to home." Yami said.

Yugi looked at Yami. "I know, but going to Harvard is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Besides, just another five years and we'll be able to move back here on a full-time basis." Yugi replied.

Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi. "Well, as long as we're still home, we could make the most of it." Yami told him.

Yugi sighed. "Dare I ask what your idea of making the most of it is?" Yugi asked.

Yami smirked before rolling on top of Yugi. "You know what my idea is." Yami said.

Yugi then shifted their position so that he was the one on top. "May I remind you that if I let you be top tonight, we'll wind up with a kid?" Yugi asked.

"Oh. Right." Yami said. He loved Yugi with all his heart, but the last thing he wanted was to have a kid right then.

Yugi smirked. "So, I guess if we make love right now, you're going to have to be on the receiving end this time around." Yugi stated.

Yami glanced up at Yugi before he pulled Yugi down into a kiss. "I think that I can live with that." Yami replied.

"All right." Yugi said before he leaned down and kissed Yami.

* * *

~Three Weeks Later~

"Do you have everything packed, Yami?" Yugi asked.

"I think so." Yami replied as he closed the top of his suitcase and zipped it up.

The last few weeks of their summer vacation had gone back quickly, and Yugi and Yami were getting ready to head back to Harvard.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come on in." Yugi said.

The door opened, and Heba walked in. "You two packed?" Heba asked.

"We are now." Yami replied.

"Grandpa wanted to make sure since you have to get up early to leave." Heba told them.

"We're ready, Heba. We've done this enough that we know to be ready the night before." Yugi stated.

"I know the feeling. It's odd not getting ready to leave to go back to school." Heba remarked.

Yugi smiled. "And you're loving it." Yugi said.

"Oh, yeah." Heba agreed.

Yami chuckled. "I'm sure Atemu's glad, too. He doesn't care to fly all that much." Yami said.

"No, I don't." Atemu agreed, walking up behind Heba.

"So, are you ready to do the last of your online work?" Yugi asked.

"I've already started it, actually." Atemu replied.

"He hopes to be done quickly so that he can focus on me and the baby." Heba explained.

"Speaking of which, you make sure to keep up updates on how you two are doing the entire time." Yugi told his brother.

Heba smiled. "You know that I will." Heba replied.

"You'd better." Yugi said.

Atemu chuckled. "I really don't think that he's going to forget that. I'm certain that he's going to want to call you the moment he finds out something new." Atemu stated.

"Just don't forget about the time difference. I really don't like the idea of being called in the middle of the night." Yami stated, shaking his head.

"Sure thing. I'll just have to make sure that I know what the time is where you are before I call." Heba assured them.

"If you think to look at what that is." Yugi remarked.

"I know. I might forget." Heba agreed.

Yugi smiled. "Well, it won't bother me as much as it will Yami." Yugi said.

"It won't bother me that much." Yami muttered.

* * *

~Harvard~

Yugi and Yami walked into their apartment. Both went to the bedroom, dropped their luggage into the floor, and collapsed on the bed.

"I hate jetlag." Yami moaned into the pillow.

"I know the feeling, but we have a week before school starts, which means that we have more than enough time to get over it." Yugi said.

"I know." Yami stated.

Yugi smiled. "Let's get some sleep." Yugi told him.

"Gladly." Yami muttered.

The two soon fell asleep.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yugi and Yami graduating from their undergraduate work.

R&R.


	51. Graduating

Here's the next chapter.

Sorry for the delay. It might take me a week or so to get back into the swing of writing my stories. Just bear with me, please.

/blah blah blah/- Yugi to Yami

[blah blah blah]- Yami to Yugi

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 51- Graduating

Yugi was sitting in the living room of his and Yami's apartment. There were several textbooks, folders, and notebooks spread out across the table. There were also several small pamphlets, brochures, and legal pads spread out across the table as well.

Yugi rubbed his eyes. He was tired, and it was only three in the afternoon. He got up and headed into the kitchen to start making himself some coffee.

Yugi had been flipping back and forth between studying for his finals and finalizing the details for his and Yami's wedding.

The front door opened and closed, but the sound didn't register in Yugi's mind.

Yami glanced into the living room and saw the mess that was on the table. He knew that Yugi was there at least.

Yugi had a habit of cleaning everything up when he was done doing something or left.

Yami looked into the kitchen and saw Yugi making himself some coffee. Yami walked up behind Yugi and wrapped his arms around Yugi's waist, kissing the back of Yugi's neck.

Yugi jumped slightly. "Yami, when did you get here?" Yugi asked, glancing back at his fiancé.

"Just now. Didn't you hear me come in?" Yami asked.

Yugi sighed. "No. I'm dead tired." Yugi replied.

Yami frowned. "What have you been doing all day?" Yami asked.

"Well from, eight to two-thirty I had exams. I have three more tomorrow, so I've been studying for them along with finalizing the details on the wedding and trying to decide where we should go on the honeymoon." Yugi replied.

Yami took Yugi by the arm and led him back to the living room.

"Yami, I-" Yugi started.

"Yugi, I'll get the coffee. We've been together long enough that I know how you like your coffee. Now," Yami told him, forcing Yugi to sit down, "you stay there and don't even think about touching anything that's on that table." With that, Yami headed back into the kitchen.

Yugi sighed and just sat there.

A few minutes later, Yami returned with a cup of coffee that he handed to Yugi.

Yugi took the cup and started to drink it.

"You're running yourself down, Yugi. You can't keep this up. Between the stress of the wedding and your exams, you need to relax some." Yami warned him.

"Well, we're planning to get married in June, so I have to have all of the plans made." Yugi replied.

"I know that, Yugi, but there's no reason for you to plan the honeymoon, too. Leave that much to me." Yami told him.

Yugi started to protest.

"Yugi, you focus on the wedding. I'll deal with the honeymoon." Yami stated more forcefully.

Yugi sighed. "Okay, Yami. The honeymoon is the part that you are looking forward to anyway." Yugi remarked. He picked up the brochures that he had picked up and handed them to Yami.

Yami leaned over and kissed Yugi. "Now, I'm looking forward to getting married to you because that means that I can call you my husband and be truthful when I tell people that you are mine." Yami told him, straightening up.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "You are truthful when you say that to people now, Yami." Yugi reminded him.

"I suppose so." Yami agreed. He smirked and said, "But now I can tell them that we are married."

"And you'll be telling people that all the time." Yugi said.

"You'd better believe it." Yami agreed. He glanced through the brochures that Yugi had handed him. "You really have a variety." Yami remarked.

Yugi glanced up.

"Venice, a Caribbean cruise, Jamaica, Australia, Paris, Cairo, Hawaii, and Mexico." Yami read the title on each brochure as he passed it.

Yugi smiled. "I hadn't managed to figure out which one I wanted to go with, so I'll let you decide that now." Yugi explained.

"Leave me with the hard part." Yami muttered.

Yugi laughed. "As if you really care." Yugi stated.

"I suppose so." Yami replied. He glanced at Yugi and said, "Forget the wedding plans for now, Yugi. You have most everything settled, and it's not like it can't wait until after exams." Yami told him.

Yugi sighed. "I guess you have a point." Yugi concurred.

Yami smiled. "I know I have one. Since I'm done with my exams, I'll leave you alone to study." Yami told him.

"If I can stay awake." Yugi retorted, taking another sip of his coffee.

"There's a whole pot of coffee." Yami told him.

"I know. It'll probably take en just to keep me awake." Yugi stated.

"Well, if you have that trouble, take a little nap and then get back to it." Yami stated.

"I'm willing to give anything a try right now." Yugi remarked.

"Well, I'll head on out." Yami said before he left.

Yugi smiled. 'He does make sure I'm taken care of. I have to give him that.' Yugi thought. He continued to drink the coffee as he tried to focus enough to study.

* * *

The following day, Yami was sitting at a table in the cafeteria on campus with the brochures spread out around him.

Mandy was sitting at the table with him. "So, you volunteered to plan the honeymoon." Mandy stated as she picked up one of the brochures and started to leaf through it.

"Yeah, although that might be a mistake." Yami said.

"Better than having to plan the wedding." Mandy replied.

"I might be, but I have no idea which one to do. I'm about to the point that I'm going to write number one through eight on slips of paper and draw a number. Number the brochures, too, and the number I pick is the place we're going." Yami sighed in frustration.

Mandy laughed. "I wouldn't ask Carrie if I were you." Mandy warned him.

Yami glanced over at his friend. "Why not?" Yami asked.

"Because Carrie will start on about how Paris is the city of love and that you need to go there." Mandy explained.

Yami grimaced. "Okay. Better not ask her." Yami remarked.

"Where did Yugi want to go?" Mandy asked.

"One of these places, but he hadn't figured out which one, either." Yami answered.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you." Mandy told him.

"Thanks a lot." Yami muttered.

Mandy snickered. "I'm not the one who volunteered to plan the honeymoon when I didn't have the fainted idea where I wanted to go." Mandy told him.

Yami sighed. He knew that she was right about that. He just hadn't realized how hard it would be to plan where he and Yugi would go for their honeymoon.

* * *

Yugi was headed back to his apartment he shared with Yami. It was already after six, and he had just gotten done with his last exam for the night. 'I'm going in and diving into bed, and I will dare Yami to disturb me for the next twenty-four hours.' Yugi thought.

When Yugi arrived at the apartment, he found that it was unlocked, which meant that Yami was home. He opened the door and walked in.

Yami walked out from the living room and smiled. "So, how did it go?" Yami asked.

"Fine, I suppose. I'm just tired." Yugi replied.

Yami walked over and kissed him. "Come on. We have company." Yami told him.

Yugi hadn't really wanted to have to deal with company, but he figured that he would have to simply grin ad bear it. He walked into the living room and was stunned.

"Hey, Yugi!" Heba said excitedly as he got up and hugged hi brother.

"What are you three doing here?" Yugi asked.

"Four." Atemu corrected, referring to his and Heba's son that Solomon was holding.

"Four then." Yugi amended.

"We're here for your graduation." Solomon explained.

"That's not for another four days, though." Yugi reminded him.

"We know, but we thought that we would come early to spend a little time with you two." Solomon answered.

Four-month old Andre had Atemu's crimson eyes with Heba's soft features. He also had the star-shaped, tri-color hair that his parents and uncles were known for. He had the lightening bolt streaks like Atemu did.

"You've certainly gotten bigger, Andre." Yugi cooed, taking the baby from his grandfather.

"Well, it's been a month since the last time you saw him." Heba retorted.

"Yes. What happened to using Shadow magic to visit?" Solomon added.

"Sorry, Grandpa." Yugi told him.

"Schoolwork was thrown at us hard this month, and we haven't really had much time." Yami explained.

"What about the wedding plans?" Heba asked.

"Between them and my schoolwork, I've barely had time for sleep." Yugi replied.

"Good grief! You can't lose sleep over all this." Solomon admonished.

Yugi smiled. "I know, Grandpa. I'll have more time for sleep anyway." Yugi replied.

"Now tell them the other news." Yami prodded.

"YOU'RE PREGNANT?" Solomon exclaimed.

"NO!" Yugi and Yami shouted at the same time.

"Grandpa, trust me. I am not pregnant. No plans f that for a few years." Yugi assured him.

"Then what?" Heba asked.

"We've decided to move the wedding to July. It'll give us a little more time to get everything planned out, especially since we are getting married in Domino." Yugi explained.

"Now that I can deal with." Solomon breathed, relieved.

Heba laughed. "And here we all thought we were adding another baby to the family." Heba stated.

Yugi shook his head. "Not right now." Yugi answered.

"Well, that's good news at least." Atemu said.

"Indeed." Solomon agreed.

"So, how's Seth doing?" Yugi asked.

Seth was Seto and Joey's son. He was a miniature version of Seto right down to his attitude.

"Oh, Joey's just irked that Seth's attitude is just like his father's." Atemu answered.

"And Seto loves the fact." Yami stated.

"More than you can imagine." Atemu agreed.

"It'll be great to see the whole gang again." Yami stated.

"So, when do we get the grand tour of the campus?" Solomon asked.

"Tomorrow. I'm way too tired to even attempt to leave the apartment." Yugi replied.

"Understandable." Solomon agreed.

The group spent the rest of the evening talking until it was time for Solomon, Atemu, and Heba to head to their hotel for the night.

"So, we get to spend the next four days with family." Yami stated.

"There goes your plan of trying to keep me in bed for four days straight." Yugi stated, knowing that his fiancé had planned to try.

Yami grinned. "Maybe I can manage that on the honeymoon." Yami stated.

"Knowing you, you'll try." Yugi said, knowing his fiancé would try it.

* * *

The following day, Yugi and Yami gave their family members a tour of the campus since they knew that they wouldn't be able to get out of it.

"This campus is a lot bigger than the one at Cairo. I don't think I could have handled it here." Atemu remarked, glancing around.

Yugi laughed. "Once you know the names of the buildings, it's not that bad. The hardest part was walking from one building to the next with only ten minutes between two classes. That's rough when you have to go from one end of the campus to the other." Yugi told him.

"At least you got good exercise." Heba stated.

"More than that. You practically have to break out into a run just to get to the class on time." Yami muttered.

Solomon chuckled. "No wonder you two have stayed so fit." Solomon said.

"Between that and the gym, we were able to keep in great shape." Yami replied.

Atemu raised an eyebrow. "How did you two find the time to go to the gym? I mean, you said yourself that you two were bogged down with schoolwork most of the time." Atemu stated.

Yugi laughed. "We managed to squeeze it in at least three times of week. Granted, it wasn't easy, but we managed." Yugi answered.

Yugi and Yami continued to show them around.

"I'm glad to finally be able to see where you two went to school for the last four years." Solomon remarked.

"And for the next four years given the fact that we are both planning to be doctors." Yami added.

Solomon glanced over at them. "Are you prepared to spend the next four years here in America?" Solomon asked.

"Yes, Grandpa. We will be glad when we can live full-time in Japan again, but we're managing just fine living here in America." Yugi assured him.

Andre started to get fussy.

"Looks like someone's starting to get a little hungry." Heba said as he shifted Andre in his arms.

"There are a few places that we can eat right off campus. Trust me. Yugi and I like eating off campus better." Yami told them.

"Lead the way." Atemu told him, making a dramatic gesture.

Yami rolled his eyes, but started walking with the others following.

"So, what are our choices?" Heba asked.

"There's a deli, a pizza place, a burger place, and a hot dog place." Yugi answered.

"Hmm. Not bad choices." Solomon remarked.

"Since it's a beautiful day, there are places that we can sit at outside and everyone can choose what they want to eat." Yami suggested.

"An excellent idea!" Solomon agreed.

Yugi and Heba went on to sit down so that Heba could feed Andre. Atemu and Yami were going to get their food for them.

"So, are you excited to be graduating?" Heba asked.

"Well, yeah. I'm glad to get out of undergraduate classes now. I'll be focusing on my medical classes now." Yugi told him.

Heba took out a bottle of purified water and added the baby formula before shaking the bottle.

Yugi was holding Andre who was getting really fussy. "I'd hurry up there papa. Your son is getting rather impatient." Yugi told him.

Heba sighed. "He's as impatient as his father." Heba stated.

"Well, Atemu was royalty five thousand years ago, so he's used to be waited on hand and foot. I'm sure that he gets impatient because of that at times." Yugi said.

"Not the only time he gets impatient." Heba muttered.

Yugi started laughing. "I think all of us Hikaris have that problem at times." Yugi stated.

Heba finally had the formula ready and handed the bottle to Yugi.

"You want me to feed him?" Yugi asked.

"Sure. You haven't done it yet, so you might as well." Heba told him.

Yugi shrugged and took the bottle from Andre, starting to feed him.

Andre calmed immediately and started drinking the milk.

"You looked rather comfy there, Yugi."

Yugi and Heba both looked to see that Atemu and Yami had come up to them with their food.

Atemu had burgers and fries for Heba and himself. Yami had gotten himself some pizza and a sub for Yugi.

"Don't be getting any ideas, Atemu. You won't be an uncle for at least five years." Yugi told his brother-in-law.

"Just sayin'." Atemu replied as he sat down.

Yami sat down as well.

Yugi looked over at his fiancé. "Where's Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"He's in line getting himself a sub. He should be here any minute." Yami answered.

Sure enough, Solomon followed soon.

By then ,Andre had finished eating, had been burped, and was now asleep.

"So, where to next?" Solomon asked.

"There's not all that much to do. There are a few shops that we can look into if you want." Yugi told him.

"I believe that that would be a good idea." Solomon agreed.

'I'm never going to get all of the wedding plans done.' Yugi thought.

"So, should I tell Bakura and Marik to start planning the bachelor party, Yami?" Atemu asked.

Yami nearly choked on the piece of pizza that he had bitten into. Yugi patted Yami on the back to help him out. Yami grabbed his drink and took a huge gulped before he said, "What bachelor party?"

Atemu rolled his eyes. "Your bachelor party. You know, when you celebrate your last days of being single before getting married.' Atemu explained.

"I know what a bachelor party is, Atemu. What in the world do you mean by Bakura and Marik planning one?" Yami demanded.

Heba laughed. "They've both been gripping about the fact that neither one of them have had one, and that neither Seto or Atemu had one, either." Heba answered.

"Which leaves you." Atemu added.

"Oh, no. I am not having a bachelor party. That is out." Yami said, shaking his head.

"Why?" Atemu asked.

"Because I have no reason to celebrate the end of my single days. I'm thrilled to be getting married to Yugi. A bachelor party means you're upset to be leaving those days behind. I'm not." Yami told him.

"You know that Bakura and Marik aren't going to be deterred." Atemu warned him.

"Why didn't they have a bachelor party when they got married if they want one so badly?" Yami asked.

Solomon chuckled. "Because Ryou and Malik went to great lengths to ensure that neither of them even knew what a bachelor party was before they got married. It wasn't until recently that they learned what a bachelor party was. Trust me. They were pissed because they didn't get the chance to have one." Solomon explained.

"How did Ryou and Malik manage that?" Yugi asked.

"I have no idea, but I'm sure that they are glad they did." Solomon said.

"Come on, Yami. You might as well agree to it because they aren't going to be happy until you agree. Besides, they'll bug you to death about it once you get to Domino." Atemu told him.

Yami groaned.

/Yami, you might as well agree. You know that Bakura and Marik are persistent./ Yugi told him through the mind link.

[I don't want one!] Yami moaned.

/Would you rather know about it and be able to have it done your way, or not know and hate what those two might do?/ Yugi asked.

Yami glanced up at Atemu. "Oh, all right, but I have the power to veto anything those two try to pull." Yami conceded.

"What do you think they would do?" Atemu asked.

"Nothing illegal, Atemu." Yugi told him.

Atemu chuckled. "I would make sure of that. I'm not going to be thrown in jail because I got involved with one of their shenanigans." Atemu assured him.

"And absolutely no strippers." Yami added.

Heba looked at Yami oddly. "What makes you think they'd want to see women strip?" Heba asked.

"There is a such thing as male strippers, Heba." Yugi reminded him.

Heba grimaced before he looked at Atemu. "Not a one." Heba added.

"That I won't agree to. I think that it'll be fine, though." Atemu assured him.

[I hope so.] Yami thought.

/You'll be fine./ Yugi told him.

* * *

~Graduation Day~

Yugi looked at himself in his graduation gown. It was the Harvard color of crimson with a crimson hat to go with it.

"You look good, Yugi." Yami told him.

Yugi turned to face Yami, who was also dressed in the gown. "So do you." Yugi replied.

"Well, we still have one more graduation after this one." Yami remarked.

"I know. Let's just get through this one first." Yugi stated.

"I talked to Atemu a little bit ago. They're going to head on to the auditorium for the graduation. He said that they'll see us after the graduation ceremony." Yami explained.

"All right. We might as well get going." Yugi stated.

"True." Yami agreed.

The two left their apartment and headed out to where they had to gather with the other graduates.

* * *

~Graduation~

At the graduation ceremony, the dean made opening remarks about the graduating student body. He also made remarks about the prestigious school that they would all be graduating from.

After that, there was a guest speaker who also spoke about the school as well as the great accomplishment that the students had achieved.

After a few more people spoke, names started to be called for the graduation ceremony.

Yugi was called first among the two. Yami was called near the end.

When both were called, their family members were cheering loudly for them, proud of what the two had accomplished.

After all the diplomas were given out, the dean spoke against and wished the students well on their next endeavor, which would me medical school for Yugi and Yami.

* * *

"At least that's over." Yami muttered.

Yugi smiled at his fiancé. "We're still going to be graduating again." Yugi reminded him.

"I know, but at least there's just one more that we have to deal with and then we're done with graduations." Yami stated.

The two soon met up with their families.

"Congratulations." Heba said as he hugged his brother.

"Thanks." Yugi replied.

"Your gown works with your eyes, Yami.' Atemu remarked.

Yami growled. "It's not my fault that the school color is crimson." Yami retorted.

"All right, you two. Enough. We're celebrating Yugi and Yami graduating. At least this time." Solomon stated.

Yugi laughed. "Yeah, but the next graduation is a long ways off, and Yami and I have a lot that we are going to have to do before then." Yugi said.

"Like get married." Yami added, slipping an arm around Yugi's waist.

"Are you sure that you don't want to wait a few days to leave to head back to Domino?" Solomon asked.

"No, Grandpa. We'd like to get back home." Yugi replied.

"All right." Solomon said.

They would all be heading back to Domino the following day.

* * *

~Domino, Japan~

Yugi and Yami were glad to be back in their hometown. They always missed it, even if they did use Shadow magic to visit as often as they could manage.

Both were shocked at the reception at home.

All of their friends were there.

"We all couldn't be at your graduation, but we figured that this party would have to do." Joey told them.

Yugi turned to his grandfather. "You knew about this, didn't you?" Yugi accused.

Solomon chuckled. "Yes, I did know. It's why I wanted you two to stay in the US a few extra days. To give them time to get things ready." Solomon explained.

"But someone decided to come on back." Seto muttered.

"We wanted to get home, Seto. There's nothing wrong with that." Yami informed him.

Seto shrugged.

"Enough talk. Let's get this party started." Tea ordered.

There was enough food there to feed an army. There was also some music for them all to listen to.

The cake that had been ordered read: CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FUTURE DOCTORS! There was a graduation cap as well as a rolled up looking diploma on the cake for decoration.

"Well, I guess we're celebrating our graduation after all." Yami stated.

"Yes, you are, and don't expect this the next time you graduate." Bakura snapped.

Ryou whacked him in the head.

"Ow!" Bakura exclaimed, glaring at his Hikari, whom ignored him.

Yugi and Yami couldn't help but laugh.

Some things would just never change.

It was good to be home as far as they were concerned.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yami's bachelor party.

R&R.


	52. The Bachelor Party

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 52- The Bachelor Party

Yugi and Heba were sitting in the kitchen at the table. There were all kinds of brochures, pamplets, magazines, and legal pads strewn out across the table.

"Okay. So, the caterer is all arranged, and so is the music. We also have all the floral arrangements made. We have the decorations planned out, we have the arch arranged, and we have everyone in the wedding party taken care of." Heba read from his list, putting a check by each item as read it off the list.

Yugi raised an eyebrow and said, "Heba, you do realize that you are forgetting one very important detail."

Heba glanced back at his list. "I don't see what it is. I mean, Seto's paying for the honeymoon, and Yami's the one who's planning all that out, so I don't think that there is anything I've missed." Heba replied.

Yugi sighed. "Heba, you've forgotten about the priest." Yugi pointed out.

"Good grief! How did I miss that one?" Heba exclaimed. He reached over and grabbed his cell phone real quick, dialing a number.

Yugi shook his head. He knew that his brother could be scattered-brained, but he never thought that his brother would forget such an essential part of the wedding.

Heba soon hung up. "Okay. That's arranged." Heba told him.

"Good." Yugi replied as he looked over everything. "We still have the rehearsal dinner that we're going to have to go through." Yugi commented.

Heba smiled. "There's nothing to that. Believe me. I know." Heba assured his brother.

"I'm not worried. I'll just be glad to get married to Yami." Yugi informed him.

The two then heard Andre start crying.

"Sounds like little Andre is up from his nap." Yugi stated.

"I noticed." Heba said as he stood up before he headed up the stairs to get his son.

Yugi looked back over the other details. He had had most things arranged beforehand. He was just double-checking things to make sure that there was nothing they had missed.

Yugi and Yami had been back home for a few weeks and were planning on getting married in July, but Yugi was making sure that everything was set for when the time came.

Heba came down a few moments later with a fussy Andre.

"I think he's fussier when he gets up from a nap than he is before he takes the nap." Yugi commented.

Heba groaned. "Just like his father."

Yugi laughed. "Atemu's mini-me?" Yugi asked.

"I guess." Heba answered. He tried to get Andre to settle down, but he wouldn't.

"Here. Let me see the little guy." Yugi told his brother, reaching for his nephew.

Heba handed Andre over to Yugi.

Yugi gently bounced Andre. "Its okay, Andre." Yugi told him.

"I'll get him a bottle. Maybe that will calm him down." Heba remarked before going to get a bottle ready.

Yugi smiled. He really did love his nephew, and he enjoyed being able to take care of him from time to time.

"You look rather comfy, Yugi."

Yugi looked up to see his fiancé and his brother-in-law standing there. "Is there a reason that I shouldn't feel comfortable holding my nephew, Atemu?" Yugi asked.

"No, but you look really comfortable with him. Maybe you should consider having a baby soon." Atemu suggested.

Yami slapped his brother in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Atemu exclaimed, jumping. He rubbed the back of his head as he glared at his brother. "What was that for?"

"Yugi and I aren't even married yet, and you already want us to have a child!" Yami snapped.

Atemu rolled his eyes. "Please. Heba and I were having a kid before we got married. I don't see the big deal." Atemu said.

Yugi laughed lightly. "Atemu, I would prefer to wait a while before Yami and I have kids. In fact, I'd much rather wait until we've both finished college and worked for a few years before we end up having a baby." Yugi told him.

"Which he knows." Heba stated as he walked over to his brother and handed him the bottle.

Yugi took the bottle and started to feed Andre, who seemed happy now that he was being fed.

"See!" Atemu gestured toward Yugi and Andre.

"Give it up already. Besides, Grandpa would knock you up one side and down the other is he heard you saying something like that." Heba reminded his husband.

"He doesn't mind all the great grandchildren that he has right now." Atemu pointed out.

Yami walked over and sat down at the table. "Maybe not, but you know that Grandpa wants me and Yugi to finish school before we start a family." Yami reminded him.

"I know." Atemu replied.

Yugi sighed before setting the bottle down. "Then please stop talking like that. Yami and I will start a family when we are ready to start a family." Yugi told him.

Atemu shrugged before heading upstairs.

Yugi shook his head.

Heba groaned. "That man annoys me to death some days." Heba stated.

Yami grinned at his brother-in-law. "But you love him to death." Yami pointed out.

"That I do." Heba agreed.

Yugi had burped Andre, who was very happy now.

"So, how goes the wedding plans?" Yami asked.

"They're fine. Everything is all planned out. All we have to do is get everything decorated for the wedding and the reception." Yugi answered.

"That's good." Yami remarked.

"So, where were you and Até at?" Heba asked.

Yami sighed. "We were with Bakura and Marik trying to rein them in as far as my bachelor party goes." Yami answered.

Yugi laughed. "How bad?" Yugi asked.

"Well, let's just say that there are three elements involved that make me dread it." Yami started.

"Which are?" Heba asked.

"Alcohol." Yami said, raising one finger. "Strippers." Yami had raised another finger. "And dancing." Yami raised a third finger.

Heba frowned. "What does dancing have to do with anything?" Heba asked.

"You've never heard of dirty dancing, have you?" Yami asked.

Heba blanched.

"Exactly." Yami stated, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"So, basically, you're going to a strip club where there is dirty dancing and alcohol with Bakura and Marik who are known to do crazy things when they are drunk." Yugi stated. He still had Andre in his arms and was bouncing him slightly since Andre loved it when he was bounced.

"Yep." Yami answered, popping the "p".

Heba shook his head. "What about Seto and Atemu? What did they have to say about this?" Heba asked.

"Seto wasn't there. He had to work, so he had no input. All he said was that the place had to be tasteful and couldn't be one of those seedy joints." Yami replied.

"And Atemu?" Heba asked.

"He tried, but Marik and Bakura weren't going to be swayed. They said that this was the only bachelor party that they were going to be able to throw, so they were going to do it right." Yami answered.

"Well, as long as none of you do anything too crazy, I suppose it's all right." Yugi said.

"Yeah." Heba agreed, although he was a little more hesitant about that.

"Well, Joey and Tristan are going, so you now that they aren't going to be any help in that aspect. And Mokuba's going, too, so he might be able to help with that, but he'll only be able to help so much." Yami stated.

Yugi smiled. "You'll figure it out." Yugi stated.

"I hope so." Yami muttered.

* * *

~One Month Later, June 28th~

Yami, Atemu, Bakura, Marik, Seto, Joey, Tristan, and Mokuba were all heading for the club that Bakura and Marik had decided to have the bachelor party at.

Yami leaned over at his brother and said, "Any chance that they decided not to go with a strip club?"

Atemu sighed. "There's not much of a chance of that.' Atemu answered.

Yami hung his head. He knew that he was screwed.

"So, why didn't you two bring Malik and Ryou along?" Mokuba asked.

"Ry would've been a real party crasher. He wouldn't have let me drink or have any fun at all." Bakura grumbled.

Marik grinned. "Malik is fun when he's drunk." Marik stated.

"How did you figure that out?" Tristan asked.

"Simple. He got pregnant the night he was drunk." Marik answered.

Everyone groaned.

"We don't need those mental images, you deranged Yami!" Seto barked.

"I enjoy them." Marik retorted, shrugging.

"WE DON'T!" everyone shouted.

"We're here!" Bakura told them in a singsong voice.

Everyone got out and looked up at the name of the club.

The club's neon sign read _The Point_.

"_The Point?" _Yami asked.

"Yeah. We've heard that it's great. They serve any kind of alcohol that you can think of. Plus, they have shows every night." Bakura stated.

Atemu and Yami both groaned.

"What gender?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah. Not all of us are gay." Mokuba added.

Seto glared at his younger brother. "Meaning?" Seto demanded.

Mokuba held up his hands. "No offense, Seto, but not all of us like the sight of another naked man." Mokuba told him.

"Don't worry, shrimp. This place does both." Bakura told him.

"Let's go." Mokuba said.

The entire group headed inside.

The music was already blaring, there were people out on the dance floor dancing, there were several strippers dancing, and there was alcohol everywhere.

"Now this is exactly the kind of place I want to be." Bakura started.

Atemu glanced at Yami and said, "Heba told me that if either one of us got drunk, he's personally castrate us both." Atemu warned his brother.

Yami gulped. "He'd do it, too." Yami stared.

"Without hesitation." Atemu clarified.

"What does he think we're going to do?" Yami asked.

The two virtually had to shout so that they could be heard over the sound of blaring, pounding music.

"He just doesn't want us to get drunk and do something that we might later end up regret." Atemu answered.

"Good point." Yami agreed.

The group had gone and sat down at a couple of tables.

It wasn't long before a round of beers was brought over to them.

"Drink up!" Bakura shouted as he grabbed his and took a swig.

"This is a bachelor party, Bakura!" Seto snapped at him.

"So?" Bakura asked.

Joey shoo his head. "We're supposed to toast to Yami." Joey said.

Yami raised a hand. "It's fine." Yami told him.

"Come on! We're here to celebrate the end of your bachelorhood!" Marik shouted.

Everyone raised their beers to Yami before drinking.

Yami rubbed his head. He didn't really want to be here because bachelor parties were for people who were upset to see their days as an unmarried man go. He wasn't unhappy about that in the least. In fact, he was beyond thrilled to be getting married to Yugi.

There was sudden Moroccan type music.

"What the-" Atemu started.

The group looked and saw a woman dressed in Moroccan type clothes come out dancing.

"A stripper!" Tristan exclaimed, raising his beer to her.

Yami shook his head. He couldn't believe that he had been roped into coming. He didn't need to see another naked person, man or woman, other than Yugi. He'd have to see enough of that as a doctor.

Tristan and Mokuba were having fun watching her as she danced.

Atemu glanced over at Yami. "Yugi and Heba are going to murder us." Atemu mouthed.

"Not as long as we don't do anything wrong." Yami replied before drinking. "Although I might have to consider chancing Heba castrating me and get drunk. It'll be the only way I get through this without ending up murdering Bakura and Marik." Yami stated.

"I agree." Atemu added.

* * *

Yugi and Heba were in the living room of the Game Shop.

Despite the fact that Heba and Atemu had their own place now, Heba had decided to come over with Andre since he knew that Yugi was there alone.

Solomon had left to visit a friend in another city for a few days, so Yugi and Yami were alone in the Game Shop for the time being.

"So, do you think Yami will behave himself?" Heba asked.

Yugi laughed. "I expect Yami will get himself drunk." Yugi said.

Heba's eyes widened. "And you're happy about that?" Heba exclaimed.

Yugi smiled. "Heba, Yami will get himself drunk to make it through the night. He's not a fan of strip clubs, so he'll deal with it by drinking." Yugi answered.

"And you're not worried?" Heba asked.

"Heba, I trust Yami, and I know that he's not going to betray me in any way, shape, or form. Besides, Yami's idea of drunk is drinking two or three drinks. On occasion, he might drink four. That's about it." Yugi answered.

"And he doesn't get drunk?" Heba asked.

"Nope." Yugi answered.

"Wow. And I thought getting drunk meant he got wasted." Heba stated.

"He did that, he would die." Yugi answered. He then started to flip through a magazine.

"So, where's the honeymoon?" Heba asked.

Yugi smiled. "Fiji." Yugi answered.

Heba's eyes widened. "And Seto's paying for it?" Heba asked.

"He's letting us stay in a house by the beach that he owns." Yugi answered.

"Ah! That's quite the honeymoon." Heba stated.

"Don't I know it." Yugi answered. He smirked and said, "I'm going to enjoy every moment of that honeymoon."

"I know I did." Heba said, taking a sip of his drink.

Yugi smiled. He knew that he would enjoy his honeymoon with Yami. Not just because he would be in Fiji, but because he would be with Yami, who would be his husband by then.

The doorbell rang.

Yugi stood up and went to answer the door. He wasn't all that surprised to find Malik and Ryou on the doorstep. "Come on in." Yugi stepped aside to let them into the room.

Malik and Ryou walked in.

Heba smiled when he saw his friends and their kids. "Can I assume that you decided to come over here since your husbands are off at Yami's bachelor party?" Heba asked.

"Of course." Ryou answered.

Beth, now four, ran over. "Hi, Uncle Heba." Beth said, her eyes shining.

Heba chuckled. "Hello, Beth. How are you tonight?" Heba asked.

"I'm fine." Beth answered.

"And Angel?" Heba asked, looking at Malik.

Malik and Marik had a three-month old daughter named Angel Ann Ishtar. She had their tanned skin, platinum blonde hair, and her eyes were a lighter lavender color like Malik's were.

"She's doing fine." Malik answered as he sat down on the couch with her.

Ryou also sat down.

"No plans for another one, Ryou?" Yugi asked.

"Um, well-" Ryou trailed off, blushing.

"Does Bakura know you're pregnant?" Heba asked.

"Not yet. I haven't told him yet." Ryou answered.

"You'd better tell him soon." Yugi stated.

Ryou glanced over at Yugi.

Yugi motioned toward Beth. "She might let it slip." Yugi explained.

"Probably." Ryou agreed.

Heba frowned before he looked at his friends. "Who has Seth?" Heba asked.

Seth was Joey and Seto's six-month-old son. Seth looked Seto to a T.

"Serenity. She was more than happy to baby-sit for Seth while they went out." Malik answered.

"So, are you ready to take care of your hung-over husbands?" Yugi asked.

Ryou and Malik both groaned.

"Not looking forward to it, huh?" Heba asked.

"Not in the least." Ryou answered.

* * *

Back at the club, Yami and Atemu were sitting at their table still drinking.

Seto and Joey had gone out on the dance floor together to dance, although as drunk as they were it was more staggering than dancing.

Mokuba and Tristan were both watching the female strippers and shouting at them as well as throwing money.

Bakura and Marik were nowhere in sight, although it was probably better not knowing where the two were at the time.

Yami rubbed his head. "I'm getting a headache from this loud music!" Yami shouted.

"I know what you mean! I don't see how they enjoy this!" Atemu added.

The two looked over at where Seto and Joey were.

"Well, being plastered has probably helped them!" Yami stated.

Atemu shook his head. "Serenity will have her work cut out for her! She has to take care of three hung-over grown men along with a six month old!" Atemu said.

"Glad I'm not her!" Yami added.

The finished up what was their third drink of the night.

Yami shook his head. "I'd better not drink anymore." Yami muttered to himself.

Atemu had the same thought.

Neither of them really wanted to get drunk. It just wasn't their thing.

"You know, we'd better go and find Bakura and Marik before they do something stupid!" Atemu told his brother.

Yami looked over at his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Before they do anything else stupid!" Atemu corrected himself, realizing that chances were that Bakura and Marik had already done something stupid.

* * *

Bakura staggered up the stairs to the roof. He glanced back and growled, "Hurry up, Marik!"

Marik, staggering even more than Bakura was, held tightly to the rail as he climbed the stairs. He was certain he would fall down the stairs if he did not keep his grip on the railing. "What are we doing again?" Marik asked.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Listen up next time, dolt! We're going to pull a prank." Bakura stated.

"Malik said he'd kill me if I used Shadow magic in any way that causes damage." Marik reminded him.

Bakura reached the top of the stairs and opened the door. "We're just going to throw a stink bomb down the vent." Bakura reminded.

"Oh. Right." Marik agreed.

Bakura shook his head. He couldn't believe how much of an idiot his best friend could be at times. He put the backpack that he was holding down and unzipped it before he took out the stink bomb.

Marik snickered. "This'll be good." Marik stated.

Bakura smirked. "I know it will be." Bakura replied. He walked, or rather stumbled, over to the ventilator system and opened the vent.

Marik rubbed his hands together, anticipating this.

"NO!"

Before Bakura was able to throw the stink bomb into the vent, it was grabbed and jerked away from him roughly.

"Hey!" Bakura snarled, turning to face whoever had just dared to spoil his fun.

Yami glared at Bakura. "I did not agree to a bachelor party to have you two drunken idiots cause a riot in there!" Yami snapped angrily.

"It was a harmless prank." Bakura retorted flippantly.

Atemu shook his head. "There's a ton of drunken patrons in the club. That would cause a riot." Atemu informed him. He thought about that for a moment. "Than again, no one might notice even how wasted most people are."

"Let's fine out!" Marik suggested.

"NO!" Yami growled.

"But-" Marik started.

"NO!" Yami repeated.

"Just this-" Bakura tried.

"NO! NO! NO! AND NO!" Yami told them.

"Party pooper." Bakura mumbled.

Yami rubbed his head. He really needed this bachelor party to end.

* * *

Yugi was still up reading when Yami walked into their room. He smiled at his fiancé and said, "So, how was the party?"

"Well, I saw three men and two women strip naked in front of a crowd of strangers. I drank three drinks while I was there. I stopped Bakura and Marik from throwing a stink bomb into the ventilator system. And Bakura, Marik, Seto, and Mokuba all threw up in the limo on the way home." Yami replied before he collapsed face first on the bed.

Yugi closed his book before he started to rub Yami's back. "No fun, huh?" Yugi asked.

Yami groaned. "No."

Yugi then realized something. "Why did Bakura and Marik want to throw a stink bomb into the ventilator system?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know." Yami mumbled into the pillow.

Yugi smiled before he kissed the back of Yami's head. "You go ahead and sleep. At least you won't have a hangover." Yugi told him.

"Atemu won't, either." Yami replied.

"Atemu didn't drink much?" Yugi asked.

Yami looked at him. "Heba told Atemu that if wither one of us drank too much, he would castrate both of us, and I don't think that it was an idle threat." Yami answered.

Yugi pursed his lips before nodding his head. "That sounds like my brother." Yugi agreed.

* * *

The following day, Yugi was sitting in the kitchen with Heba, Ryou, Malik, Serenity, and Tea.

"I am never letting Tristan go out with Bakura and Marik ever again!" Tea growled angrily.

"I know! Seto, Joey, and Mokuba were all completely wasted! And it was harder to take care of those three than Seth! And he's four months old!" Serenity exclaimed.

Ryou sighed. "Yami told me about the stink bomb incident. I'm glad that they stopped them." Ryou stated.

"Look at it this way. They won't get another chance at throwing a bachelor party." Yugi told them.

"You forget Tristan." Malik pointed out.

"No! After this, I am not letting Tristan have one!" Tea stated firmly.

Heba laughed. "Atemu took my threat seriously." Heba stated.

Yugi shook his head. He couldn't believe that they were gossiping about their significant others like this.

"So, is the wedding planned?" Tea asked, changing the subject.

"Completely. All we have to do is get everything set up when that Friday comes." Yugi answered.

"So, everyone will be married except for me ad Tea." Serenity stated.

"Well, I'm waiting for Tristan to pop the question. I'm hoping he'll ask me any day now." Tea said.

"Well, we're all hoping he will." Malik told her.

Tea smiled. "Thanks." Tea told them.

"In any case, I'd better go and nurse my husband's hangover." Ryou said, standing up.

"Me, too." Malik agreed.

"I have three to take care of.' Serenity added.

"You two are lucky." Tea told Yugi and Heba.

Heba and Yugi smiled, knowing that they were lucky that Atemu and Yami didn't get themselves drunk.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The wedding.

R&R.


	53. Wedding

Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 53- Wedding

Time seemed to fly by during the next few weeks because before Yugi and Yami knew it, it was only a week before their wedding.

"I can't believe we'll be married in a week." Yugi murmured one night when he and Yami were lying in bed together after several rounds of lovemaking.

Yami chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Yugi. "And I'll be thankful for that. I can't wait until I'm able to call you my husband."

Yugi laughed. "I can believe that. You've been calling me your fiancé for the past year every chance you get."

"That's because I want people to know that you are mine." Yami replied.

Yugi couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped him.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. Whenever you talk like that, saying that I'm yours is when that Pharaoh is in you shows up." Yugi answered.

"I can't help that that's the way I was raised." Yami replied.

Yugi rolled over so that he was on top of Yami. "I admit that it does annoy me at times, but for the most part, I love hearing you say that."

Yami tightened his arms around Yugi before he leaned up and kissed Yugi. "Then I suppose I am going to have to start saying it more often." He then kissed Yugi again.

"You say it at least once a day." Yugi reminded him.

"So what?" Yami asked.

Yugi sighed. He knew that it was pointless to argue with his soon-to-be husband, so Yugi decided not to even try to argue.

Yami then nipped at Yugi's ear. "You know, I wouldn't mind going another round tonight."

Yugi groaned. "For goodness sakes, Yami. We've already gone three rounds tonight. Haven't you had enough?"

"Aibou, one of these says you will realize that I will never get enough of you." Yami told him.

"That I believe." Yugi agreed.

Yami then rolled them over so that Yugi was pinned beneath his larger body. "So? What do you say?" Yami asked.

"Do I have a choice?" Yugi asked.

"Of course you do." Yami replied.

"And since when have I ever said no?" Yugi asked.

Yami chuckled. "Never. And I hope that the day that you say no to another round never comes." He then leaned down and kissed Yugi.

Yugi then wrapped his arms around Yami's neck and pulled Yami closer to his own body.

The night was once more wrapped up in passion for the two.

* * *

"I can't believe that you and Yami are getting married in only a week! This is so exciting!" Carrie squealed loudly.

Yugi and Mandy both winced at the volume that Carrie's voice had taken.

The three were sitting in the kitchen of the Game Shop, talking.

Yami and Atemu had gone out for the day, and Solomon was in the shop running the business.

"I know, Carrie. Believe me. I am more than aware of that fact." Yugi assured her. He picked up his Coke and took a sip of it.

"Do, are you excited about getting married?" Mandy asked.

Yugi smiled. "Very. I'm glad that Yami and I are going to be married. It'll make others see that we are committed to each other."

"By others I take it that you are referring to the numerous admirers that you and Yami seem to have at school." Mandy remarked.

Yugi groaned. "You would think that after going to that school for the last four years and being together the entire time would have been some kind of clue to the fact that Yami and I are together fro good. No one seems to take the hint."

"You do realize that most of those people are not going to give up. They'll probably spend the entire time trying to break up your marriage." Carrie pointed out.

"They can try, but it won't work. Yami and I have been together for too long to not trust each other." Yugi replied.

Carrie giggled. "And that mind link of yours doesn't hurt, either."

Yugi smiled. "No. It doesn't. I always hear Yami when he's yelling at some girl to leave him alone because when he gets pissed. He always lets the link open when some girl comes on to him."

"So you'll know if they come saying that something went on between the two of them you'd know that it was lie." Carrie surmised.

Yugi shook his head. "Nope. He lets the link open whenever he gets angry regardless of what it's over. That's why I know."

"Oh." Carrie and Many replied.

Yugi laughed. "I find it funny, actually. Those girls all think that they are going to be able to get Yami to leave me, but the fact of the matter is that Yami isn't interested in them. Granted, Yami gets completely annoyed at them, and sometimes I think that the only thing that stops him from sending them to the Shadow Realm is me telling him that it's wrong." Yugi stated.

"I think it's good that he thinks that. Believe me, with the number of guys that come onto Carrie, I would have already sent them there if I had the chance to." Mandy remarked.

"Then it's a good thing that you don't have that ability." Yugi stated.

"In your opinion." Mandy muttered.

Carrie laughed before she leaned over and kissed Mandy on the cheek. "You know that you don't have a reason to be jealous. It's not like I would ever consider any of them."

"Maybe, but I can't help that I do feel jealous at them." Mandy replied.

Yugi shook his head. "In any case, I'm glad that you two were able to come out here for the wedding,"

"We wouldn't miss this for the world!" Carrie assured him.

Yugi laughed. "And the truth is that I believe you."

Mandy looked at Yugi. "All right. Enough about the wedding. That's not the important part. Where are you going for the honeymoon?"

"Mandy!" Carrie exclaimed.

Mandy looked at her girl in shock. "What? It's a simple question."

"How can you say that the wedding isn't the important part? It's very important! Without the marriage, there wouldn't be a reason for the honeymoon. It would be just another vacation. The wedding is very important. It is a public display of Yugi and Yami's commitment to each other. They are saying that they are going to be faithful to each other and stay with each other for all time! They're going to be there for each other in good and bad times, when their sick, when their healthy, when-" Carrie rambled.

"Okay! Okay! I get it! Sorry. You don't need to recite their wedding vows to me!" Mandy protested.

Carrie let out a grunt. "Apparently I do for you to remember how important the wedding ceremony really is."

"I get it." Mandy assured her.

Yugi chuckled. "Well, to answer your question, Mandy, I don't have a clue where we're going. Since I was trying to plan the wedding, plan the honeymoon, study for finals, and get ready for graduation at the same time, Yami decided to take over planning the honeymoon so that I wouldn't have so much to do. Seto's paying for the honeymoon as a wedding present, so those two are the ones talking about the honeymoon. Yami is bound and determined to make sure that I don't find out where we're going until we leave for the honeymoon." Yugi explained.

"I'd hate that." Carrie remarked."Trust me. I do." Yugi assured her.

* * *

~Rehearsal Dinner~

Everyone who was going to be in the wedding was sitting in the dining room of the Kaiba mansion to eat dinner.

With a little persuasion from Joey, Seto had agreed to let the wedding and the reception take place at the mansion, for which Yugi and Yami were grateful.

Carrie and Mandy were there as well because Carrie was directing the wedding for Yami and Yugi.

"So, ready for tomorrow?" Joey asked, looking over at his best friend.

"Yes." Yugi answered at the same time Yami said, "No."Everyone looked at Yami in surprise.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Yami, get over it. It's just one night, so it won't kill you."

"And when was the last time we weren't together at night?" Yami asked.

Atemu snickered. "Not thrilled about not seeing Yugi after tonight until the wedding tomorrow, huh?"

"What's there to like about it?" Yami grumbled.

"I think that's hard for just about anyone." Solomon stated.

"Other than that, are you ready to get married?" Carrie asked.

"Yes." Yami answered.

"Good. I'd hate to have to get Bakura and Marik to drag you kicking and screaming to the wedding." Carrie remarked calmly as she took a bite if her steak.

Everyone looked at Carrie this time.

"What?" Carrie asked.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" Heba asked.

"Of course I would! There's no way that I am going to let Yami ruin Yugi's wedding!" Carrie declared.

"It's my wedding, too!" Yami protested.

"Then no more remarks like that." Carrie told him.

Yugi chuckled. He knew Carrie well enough that she would most certainly get Bakura and Marik to drag Yami to the wedding. She'd happily get them to do that.

And Bakura and Marik would happily do it.

The rehearsal dinner continued.

"So, what time is everyone getting here tomorrow?" Seto asked.

"Wedding guests or wedding party?" Yugi asked.

"Both, actually." Seto replied.

"Ask the wedding director." Yugi waved his hand toward Carrie, who was sitting across from him.

Carrie tapped her chin as she thought for a moment. "Well, I think the wedding party needs to be here at least by two-thirty. We have to make sure that everyone gets dressed and ready before the wedding starts." Carrie stated.

"But that's two hours!" Yami exclaimed.

"Yes, and we may need that two hours, so hush." Carrie retorted.

Yami couldn't believe that they would be there that early. He knew better than to argue with Carrie, though. That was a losing argument.

"As for the wedding guests, I'd say that they might start arriving around four-fifteen to four-thirty. I'm not exactly sure." Carrie continued.

"All right. I just wanted to make sure that my staff knew in enough time so that they would know when to expect people." Seto stated.

"Well, that's when." Carrie replied.

Once everyone was through with dinner, they hung around and talked for a bit before they decided to leave.

Yami sighed. "I really am not looking forward to this."

Yugi laughed. "Yami, it's just for one night. Then I'm yours for the rest of our lives, so you'll live."

"In your opinion." Yami replied.

Yugi shook his head before he raised up on the tips of his toes and kissed Yami on the lips. "Take it easy, Yami. We'll be married before you know it. Now, go home with your brother."

"All right, Aibou." Yami agreed. He then pulled Yugi to him and kissed him for a long moment before he let Yugi go and left with Atemu and Heba.

Yugi and his grandfather then headed back to the Game Shop.

"I thought that that boy would never let you leave." Solomon muttered.

Yugi laughed as he slid into the driver's seat of the car. "Well, high school was the last time that we slept in separate beds, so Yami's pretty upset by this."

"It's a good thing that it's not something for more than one night. I think it really would kill him then." Solomon remarked.

Yugi smiled. "I know."

* * *

~Wedding Day~

Yugi woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. He reached over and hit the snooze button. He then pulled the covers back over his head and settled down to go back to sleep.

The door to the room opened about forty minutes later, and Solomon walked in. He shook his head, not at all surprised that Yugi had gone back to sleep. He walked over and shook Yugi slightly. "Come on, my boy. It's time for you to get up."

Yugi groaned. "Five more minutes." he grumbled.

Solomon couldn't help but think back to when Yugi was in elementary school. He said the same thing he didn't know how many times. He shook his head before shaking Yugi again. "Come on, Yugi. You have to get up."

Yugi moaned. "I don't want to."

"Yugi, you are getting married to Yami today, so you need to go ahead and get up. Besides, Carrie and Mandy are on their way over here now." Solomon told him.

Yugi flew out of the bed faster than the speed of light.

Solomon's eyes were wide in shock. He was certain that he had never seen his grandson move that fast in his entire life.

Yugi turned to face his grandfather and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Grandpa. I didn't mean to give you a heart attack, but when Carrie is in charge of events like this, she can be a monster, so I'm not crossing her today."

"I see. That explains why you moved so fast." Solomon commented.

Yugi rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. I think I'll go ahead and get my shower now. The last thing that I want to do is enrage Carrie." He then grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom.

Solomon wasn't sure what to think about that, but decided that he did not want to attempt to defy Carrie. He figured doing what she said and staying out of her way would be in his best interest for the day.

Solomon headed back downstairs and was tidying up the living room when he heard the doorbell ring. He walked over and answered it.

Carrie and Mandy were both there. They were both dressed in Capris and simple T-shirts. Carries was carrying a clipboard for a reason that Solomon was sure he didn't want to know. Mandy was carrying two dress bags and a backpack that Solomon assumed held the accessories to go with the dresses.

"Hello, ladies. Come on in." Solomon told them, stepping aside so that the two girls were able to enter the house.

"Where's Yugi at?" Carrie asked.

"He's getting his shower now. He should be done soon." Solomon answered.

Carrie nodded while looking at her clipboard.

Mandy mentally groaned. She hated when Carrie got like this because Carrie was like a possessed person. Everything had to be perfect as far as Carrie was considered, and Carrie would snap at anyone to make sure that things went smoothly.

"Carrie, can I put the dresses down?" Mandy asked.

"Yes. Just make sure that they don't get wrinkled." Carrie replied.

"Come on, Mandy. I'll show you where you can hang them up until we leave." Solomon said.

Mandy nodded and followed Solomon into the living room.

There was a place high enough that the dresses could be hung up so that they didn't touch the floor.

"Yugi! Hurry up!" Carrie shouted up the stairs.

Mandy looked over at Solomon. "Sorry about that. When Carrie's the director of any event, a wedding especially, she turns into a drill sergeant. Everything has to be just so."

Solomon smiled. "Yugi warned me, although he used the term monster."

Mandy thought about that for a moment before she nodded. "Yeah. That sounds about right."

"I'll be right down!" Yugi called.

Carrie as glad to hear that.

"I'm just going to get my tux on." Yugi added.

"DO NOT EVEN THINK OF DOING THAT!" Carrie shouted before charging up the stairs.

Solomon looked at Mandy.

Mandy shook her head. "Just bear it for today, please. She'll be back to normal once the wedding is over."

Solomon nodded. "I believe I will be staying out of her way and doing whatever she asks me to do when she asks it today."

"A wise idea." Mandy told him.

* * *

Yugi had just gotten out of the shower and back into his room. He only had on his boxers and a white T-shirt.

"Yugi! Hurry up!" Carrie shouted from downstairs.

Yugi knew Carrie was there, and he knew that the dictator would be in control of his life until he walked down the aisle. "I'll be right down!" Yugi called. He walked over to where his tux was. "I'm just going to get my tux on."

Yugi reached for the tux.

"DO NOT EVEN THINK OF DOING THAT!"

Yugi jumped up and back away from the tux. He could hear what sounded like a heard of elephants on the stairs and knew that he was screwed.

A moment later, Carrie burst into the room. She was Yugi standing away from the tux and was relieved. "You aren't putting the tux on until thirty minutes before the wedding." Carrie told him.

"Why?" Yugi asked.

"Less of a chance of anything getting on it. Get the bag to the tux and we're leaving." Carrie said.

"Carrie-" Yugi started.

"Come on. We don't have all day." Carrie added, looking at the clipboard.

"Carrie." Yugi tried again.

"Where is the bag? I'll do it myself." Carrie finally said, looking around the room.

"Carrie!" Yugi shouted.

"What?" Carrie asked, turning to him.

"Would you please get out of my room so that I can get dressed in something?" Yugi asked.

Noticing his attire, Carrie nodded. "Sure. You have five minutes." She then left the room.

Yugi quickly got on a pair of blue jeans and a clean white shirt. He then threw on a pair of socks and tennis shoes.

"Two minutes!" Carrie hollered.

Yugi scanned the room frantically for the bag for the tuxedo/ He knew that Carrie would come back up the stairs if he didn't get down there.

"One minute!"

Yugi finally located the bag. He quickly got the tux in the bag before he headed down the stairs. "I'm ready!"

"Good. We'll head on over to the Kaiba mansion." Carrie started.

"Not so fast." Solomon interrupted.

Mandy and Yugi looked at Solomon like he had lost his mind. NO ONE should ever interfere with Carrie when she was directing anything.

"Yugi hasn't had breakfast yet. I know that today is his wedding day, but he needs to eat something." Solomon stated.

"Oh. Right." Carrie agreed.

"And it's only nine in the morning. We don't have to be there until two-thirty." Mandy added.

"Well, Mandy and I will go on over and make sure that everything is fine. Be there at two-thirty sharp." Carrie told Yugi.

"I will." Yugi promised.

"Come on, Mandy." Carrie said, heading for the door.

Mandy hung her head, knowing that she was in for a long day. She then followed Carrie.

"And get the dresses!"

"Right." Mandy said. She went and got the dresses along with the bag before leaving.

"I feel sorry for Mandy right now." Solomon remarked.

"Go with the feeling." Yugi told him.

"I'll get breakfast started." Solomon stated before heading into the kitchen.

* * *

Yami was sleeping soundly in the guestroom of his brother's apartment.

"Waaaahhhhh!"

The sound of Andre's crying caused Yami to wake up. He sighed, knowing that his nephew was up. He laid back down and was determined to go back to sleep.

However, a few moments later, he was being shaken roughly.

"All right, Yami. Get up out of bed." Atemu ordered.

"No.' Yami muttered.

Atemu rolled his eyes. "Yami, today is your wedding day, and I am not being held responsible for you being late."

"It's the morning. Don't have to be there until two-thirty." Yami mumbled.

"Yami, so help me if the only way to get you out of bed is to call Yugi and tell him you changed your mind, I will." Atemu threatened.

"He won't believe you." Yami retorted. He was determined to go back to sleep.

Andre had stopped crying.

"Yami, get up, or I'm calling Carrie." Heba stated.

Yami flew out of bed.

"Atemu was shocked.

Heba poked his head into the room and smiled. "That's how you scare that man out of bed."

"How did you know that would work?" Atemu asked.

"I've talked to Yugi enough to know that Yami would never cross Carrie when she's in charge of something like this." Heba answered.

"She's like a warden when she's in charge of an event. You cross her, you get it." Yami stated before he grabbed some clothes and got in the shower.

Heba shook his head.

"At least he's up." Atemu remarked.

The house phone rang.

Heba handed their son to Atemu as well as the bottle. "Feed him." He then went to answer the phone.

Atemu sat down and started to feed Andre, who was happily drinking.

Heba picked up the receiver and said, "Hello?"

"_Heba, its Carrie._"

"Don't worry. Yami's up." Heba assured her.

"_Good. Don't let him put his tuxedo on now. Just bring it to the mansion. You and Atemu, too._"

Heba blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"_Because no one is going to put their tuxes on until its thirty minutes before the wedding. Understood?_"

The tone of Carrie's voice told Heba that it was do as she said or die.

"No problem." Heba assured.

"_Good. See you at two-thirty." _

Heba hung up the phone.

"What?" Atemu asked.

Yami had walked out in time to see Heba's expression. "Receive orders from the warden?"

Heba nodded. "We don't put our tuxes on. We simply take them to the mansion. We'll put them on thirty minutes before the ceremony."

Yami nodded. "Sounds like Carrie."

"In any case, breakfast." Heba started, starting to get it ready.

* * *

Joey, Seto, Mokuba, and Serenity had been rather surprised to see Carrie and Mandy there so early, although they were glad since some things still had to be set up.

"Okay. I need to see what needs to be done and how many we'll need to get it done." Carrie stated, going to the back.

All four looked at Mandy.

"She's nuts when she's in charge of something like this. If you value your balls, I suggest you do what she says and stay out of her way." Mandy warned.

All three of the men swallowed before they nodded.

"Now, where can I put these?" Mandy asked, motioning to he dresses.

"Follow me.' Serenity told her.

Mandy followed Serenity upstairs.

"This is going to be a long day." Mokuba remarked.

"A really long day." Joey added.

"A tortuously long day." Seto finished.

* * *

Yugi and Solomon arrived at the mansion at two-fifteen to find that Seto's staff was all running around doing different things.

"I think that Carrie has been busy." Yugi stated.

"You have no idea."

Yugi and Solomon turned to find Joey standing there.

"Come on. Carrie has ordered that you be taken to the room you'll be using to dress in before Yami gets here. You're-" Joey was interrupted.

"-supposed to stay in the room until someone comes to get me." Yugi finished.

Joey nodded.

"Let's go." Yugi told him.

The three headed into the house.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Yami arrived at the mansion with Heba, Atemu, and Andre, who was asleep.

Seto walked up to them. "Come on."

All three looked surprised.

"Look. The she-devil ordered me to get you to your dressing room and keep you there until time for the wedding. I am not going to get my head taken off because of you, so come on!" Seto ordered before turning and stalking toward the house.

"Carrie's been at work. That's for sure." Yami stated, recognizing the signs of when Carrie was wearing of someone's nerves.

The three followed.

* * *

Carrie had made sure that the arch was in place, that the flowers were perfect, that the chairs were evenly spaced, that the band was in place, and that the priest was there.

Mandy stood to the side, shaking her head. She had not been given any orders, so she was simply sitting.

Mandy was wearing a gold dress that had no strap on her left shoulder. She was also wearing a pair of gold high-heeled shoes that laced up her leg to the middle of her leg. She also had on a silver necklace with a flower charm and a pair of silver earrings that matched the necklace. Her hair had been curled and fell down her back in waves.

Carrie was wearing a forest green, strapless dress. She also had on a pair of black, high-heeled shoes. She wore a gold necklace with a green frog charm on it. She also had in a pair of green stud earrings. She had curled her hair and had twisted it into a bun in the back of her hair.

"Carrie, I think everything is ready." Mandy told her.

"Just double checking." Carrie replied, not taking her eyes off her clipboard.

Mandy glanced at her watch. She knew that Carrie would be double-checking until time for the wedding.

* * *

Solomon smiled. "You look great, Yugi."

"Thanks, Grandpa.' Yugi replied. He glanced in the mirror. "I haven't been nervous until now."

"No second thoughts?" Heba asked.

Yugi shook his head. "I just don't care for being the center of attention."

Heba laughed. "Don't worry about a thing. The moment you see Yami, no one else is going to matter. You're going to be fine."

"You think?" Yugi asked.

Heba nodded.

"Okay." Yugi agreed.

* * *

Yami had gone down to the area for the wedding and was now standing at the alter.

Atemu, as best man, was standing beside him. "Nervous?"

"No. Just ready for the ceremony to start." Yami answered.

"No second thoughts/" Bakura asked, coming up to him.

"If I did now, Carrie would rip me to shreds, and I don't want that to happen." Yami answered.

"Why are you scared of her?" Marik asked.

"You don't want to know." Seto answered as he walked by them.

"Everyone, take you places!" Carrie ordered.

Bakura and Marik headed to their seats while Yami and Atemu stayed where they were.

The music soon started, and Heba went down the aisle to his place before Yugi came down as well.

The moment that Yugi and Yami's eyes met, it was like nothing else mattered.

Yugi soon reached where Yami was standing.

The priest then began. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Yami Sennen and Yugi Mutou together in holy matrimony." the priest said. He then turned to Yami. "Yami, do you to take Yugi as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death due you part?" the priest asked.

"I do." Yami answered calmly and firmly.

The priest then turned to Yugi. "And Yugi, do you take Yami as your lawfully wedded husband, to have to and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death due you part?" the priest asked.

"I do." Yugi answered just as confidently as Yami.

"The rings, please." the priest said.

Heba handed one of the gold rings to Yugi, and Atemu handed the other gold ring to Yami.

"Yami, place the ring on Yugi's right hand and say 'with this ring, I thee wed'." the priest said.

Yami placed the gold ring on Yugi's ring finger on his right hand and recited, "With this ring, I thee wed."

"Yugi, place the ring on Yami's right hand and say 'with this ring, I thee wed'." the priest instructed.

Yugi placed the gold ring on Yami's ring finger on his right hand and said, "With this ring, I thee wed."

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your husband." the priest said.

Yami and Yugi happily kissed each other.

The guests all clapped for the couple.

"May I present to you for the first time Mr. Yami and Yugi Sennen." the priest said.

Once more, there was more applause.

* * *

The reception was in full swing.

There were people who were dancing, and there were people who were eating. Others were talking to each other. Everyone was congratulating Yugi and Yami.

Yugi and Yami were dancing together.

"So, where is the honeymoon?" Yugi asked.

"It's killing you, isn't it?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded.

Yami chuckled. "Okay. I think I've tortured you enough. We're going to Australia."

"We are?" Yugi asked, his eyes brightening.

Yami nodded. "It'll just be me and you for the next two weeks."

"Perfect." Yugi stated.

Yami chuckled. "I thought so." He then leaned down and kissed Yugi.

The reception continued for a while.

* * *

After the reception, Yami and Yugi had been taken by one of Seto's limos to the airport so that they could make their flight.

Yami had taken the liberty to pack their bags beforehand so that they could just leave.

"Thanks goodness that's over." Seto muttered.

"I thought the ceremony was sweet. It was simple and calm, just the way I thought Yugi would want it.' Tea remarked.

"It's not the ceremony that killed me.' Seto muttered before walking off.

Mandy chuckled. "Carrie can be a maniac when it comes to directing something. She wore one everyone's nerves." She then wrapped an arm around her blushing girlfriend.

"Sorry. I just don't want anything to go wrong." Carrie defended herself.

"I know." Mandy replied.

"I think we'll come back tomorrow and help with the clean up." Heba said.

"No need. My staff is doing it now, and they'll finish it tonight.' Seto replied.

"In that case, I think that it's time we all left." Atemu stated.

Everyone slowly started to leave.

Seto was glad that Carrie was gone because the girl had gotten on his last nerve and had scared the daylights out of him enough as it was. He was glad that Yugi and Yami were happy and married now.

* * *

Hope you liked it.

Next: The honeymoon.

R&R.


End file.
